Change of Fate
by light blue
Summary: Squinoa (Complete, author's notes up) The group of SeeDs are unstoppable, determined to defeat their Matron (the end of the second disc), and to once again bring peace to the lands. But what happens when Squall falls into a coma with Rinoa?
1. The moon

I don't own Final Fantasy VIII... and I don't wish I did. I would've probably screwed up the storyline. ^_~   R/R.

--Jenn

. . .**C**hange    **O**f    **F**ate. . .

_The moon._

It looked so beautiful right now.  Why?  From all that's happened, how could it show it's pretty face and still be bright and glorious?  It is ironic how some things fall into place sometimes.

The moonlight shined down upon her like a soft blanket of tranquil ness.  The girl sat on the windowsill in her given dorm; now refusing to look up to it and its beauty.  Cid was kind enough to let her stay in the garden until things completely settled down.  Things… were they just things?  No.  This was beyond a thing.  It involved two people.  But one of them meant the world to her right now.

Sorceress Edea.  Zell, Selphie, Irvine, Quistis, and Squall had a past with her.  She was like a mother to them.  Although they all knew it, they still gave their lives and fought against her; forgetting the past and all the times that they had with her even though they couldn't remember it to easily.  That day made her feel like an outcast when Irvine reminded them that they were all from the same orphanage.  In some mysterious way, she admired the Sorceress. She was the enemy, yes, but there was something about her that made her enchanted. Maybe it was the love the group had for her? She didn't know. But they all did what they said they were going to do: fight against her.

She observed the rage, yet sadness, in Selphie's green eyes as she swung her Morning Star gracefully in the air, striking the mysterious Matron of her past. Yes, she was getting the chance to avenge the destruction of her former garden, but from the look in her eyes, she wanted to hold back.

She observed Zell's hands in powerful fists, refusing to show any looseness that could have easily happened by the look in his eyes.  If he let the thought that the person in front of him, his enemy, was his mother-like persona cross his mind again, it looked as though he would fall to his knees and give up.  And he didn't.  Perhaps he wasn't the "chicken wuss" that Seifer has called him so occasionally.

She observed as Quistis valiantly cracked her Slaying Tail upon the Galbadian floor of the auditorium, remaining calm and cool as always. But she was dying to stop inside, and she knew it, but she would not let that stop her from fighting. This had to be done; this was her mission with the others… her "brothers and sister".

She observed as Irvine, the ladies man amongst them, cocked his faithful Ulysses and shot at his former matron without hesitation. He did it once at the Sorceress parade, and found the courage to pull the trigger at her again. She remembered when he almost backed down from assassinating her at the parade. Maybe the reason why he was scared to shoot her was because he knew… he was the only one that knew at that point in time that they were about to assassinate their matron. He was the one that remembered their past childhoods together.

She observed as Squall, with the courage of a lion, ran swiftly and slashed at Edea with his gunblade without any remorse to hold back. She saw in his big grayish-blue eyes that he hated every second of it.  But this was his mission; it was what he was told to do. Defeat the Sorceress. Why? Because he was a _SeeD_. They are meant to do _just that_.

And then there was her. The girl that had nothing to do with the Sorceress, or Matron, although she stood by everyone's side and helped them fight.  Hyne, she didn't even have anything to do with SeeD besides that pitiful contract that lead her there.  There was a lump in her throat as she fought along side of them… that of guilt. She had no relation or past with this woman and of course, she didn't hold back.  She felt guilty that she didn't have a relationship with her; however, she had the urge to hold back along with them. She understood that Edea, the Sorceress, had a past with them… and she cared for her friend's feelings.  But still, Rinoa pushed away her sudden urges to stop fighting and continued to summon Leviathan, allowing the water creature to do its destructive Tsunami wave upon her.

And then it happened…. 

The girl in light blue couldn't remember what happened.  Rinoa squinted her dark brown eyes and brought her legs to her chest, hugging them tightly. Still, the moon was, without hesitation, brightly shining down on the girl in spite. It was a beautiful night… she hated that.  But why was she purposely sitting on the windowsill, welcoming it?  Perhaps she was looking for some comfort-or some hope that he would be ok.  Sighing deeply, trying to keep her tears at bay, Rinoa raised her head, feeling her dark layers of hair tickle her cheek as she did so, and looked to that spiteful moon for an answer.

~~~~~~~

"Hey Instructor, just came to visit…. anything yet?"

"No… their conditions are still the same. Not a twitch or stir coming from them for the past two days..."

…………

"…DAMN IT!"

"Zell… please…"

"What the hell's goin' on?! Can't we do anything?!"

"…Calm down."

"We're sitting ducks here! Why did this have to happen to them, WHY?!"

"ZELL DINCHT, calm down this instant!"

The hothead winced slightly as he was yelled at, feeling as though he was a child in this role and she was the parent.  Quistis stood her ground, next to the left side of the bed where Squall lay… in the infirmary.  His head was turned to his right, eyes closed in peaceful slumber-or was it?  Rinoa laid upon the bed in the other room as well, in a peaceful slumber, as if the two ditched the real world to escape the reality around them to meet each other in the "dream world". But Rinoa would soon leave Squall on his own in that world, since she slightly began to stir.  Maybe Zell's yelling did come to good use this time… and only this time.  During the long pause that Quistis and Zell faced with each other after she yelled at the top of her lungs for him to calm down, Rinoa released a soft groan from her lips, audible enough for them both to hear.

Their eyes widened as they stared at each other.  Quistis was the first to react with a blink.  Zell frowned in surprise and performed a 180, and without hesitation, ran over to Rinoa's room and stood at the doorway, staring down at her as she lay upon the bed.  He didn't notice, but Quistis was right behind him, peeking over his shoulder.  Slowly, Zell walked deeper into the room refusing to pull his eyes from her, to see if she would move or show any sign of life.  Quistis did the same, although she noticed something from Rinoa that Zell did not.  Her head was turned to the other side it was when they laid her down.

"Rinoa..?" She walked closer, opposite the side of the bed Zell was, and on the side Rinoa's head was facing.  A look of concern and hope crossed her features as she watched her friend in light blue as if she was fighting for her life. But in this case, it was fighting for consciousness.

Rinoa's softly shaped brow furrowed, and a small sign of a frown shown on her features.  Quistis and Zell watched in awe as her friend fought to wake up. On instinct, Zell raised his voice a little more than Quistis did-just a little.

"Rinoa!  Hey, hang in there! We're here with you… wake up!"

"Zell…" Quistis didn't know how to react or to take this in.  She wanted to quiet her loud friend down, but something stopped her. Perhaps it was the fact that Rinoa's eyes slowly began to open after Zell's attempt to wake her up.  And it did work.

Her eyes were open now, blankly staring at the woman in front of her, eye-level.  Her mind was coming back to function and she tried to remember the events that happened before she began to try to speak, but the others beat her to both of those things before she could do either.

"Welcome back." A soft smile was given to the young woman who lay in front of her.  As she smiled, she looked up at the excited martial artist who was hopping, skipping and jumping for joy, yelling at the top of his lungs before running out of the room and infirmary to get Doctor Kadawaki.  Quistis looked back down at Rinoa, watching her bring her hands to her eyes and rub them softly.  The girl sat up, bringing her left hand to her forehead and squinted her eyes, trying to get them back to focusing.  After a moment of awakening, Rinoa turned her head to look at Quistis with a look of confusion on her facial features. "Quistis… what happened?"

The former instructor stood from leaning on her knees, and took a seat upon the small stool that was beside the bed. Folding her feet together, right over left, she placed her left hand over her right on her lap, looking up at the ceiling.  It's been two days, although she remembered clearly.

"After you summoned Leviathan, Edea was wincing a lot.. groaning in pain.  We had defeated her, Rinoa… we did it.  When she fell, this white light surrounded us all… it was unbearable.  I didn't think I would hold on to consciousness that long, but I did.  After it finally went away, within those few minutes you were under the podium, face down.  I got up and ran over to you, but you were already lost in a coma.  I called out to tell Squall, but… he was knocked out as well."

Rinoa stared at Quistis, trying to take all of this information in.  "So Edea's dead?"

"No, she is back as herself again.  This whole time a Sorceress of the future, Ultimecia, was possessing her."

The girl sighed in relief.  She was glad that their Matron was all right.  But--  "You said that Squall was knocked out…?  Was he in a coma, too?"

Quistis blinked softly, watching and hearing Rinoa's concern about Squall show it's face.  She saw how the two had gotten closer in the past weeks, and she thought of a way to tell her, to her face, that he still was not back with them.  Taking in a breath of air, softly, the blonde frowned slightly, lowering her head to look at the floor.  Before she had time to respond to the question, Rinoa was already standing, reaching her left hand out to the wall that was next to the doorway to help her keep balance.  Once regaining her stance, the girl in light blue walked out of the infirmary room and made her way to the room next to hers.

He was gone.  Away from this world, just like she was for two days… but he was still going strong.  She stood there staring down at his lifeless body as her brows lifted and her mouth opened slightly in shock.  He would wake up someday like her, right?  He was in a coma, but he seemed to be sleeping as gentle as a baby as if it was a daily nap. Rinoa took a step closer into the room, hesitating a bit, and then walked in further, kneeling down at his side to look him in the face.  Breathing gently, eyes closed softly, a content look upon his sleeping facial feature… he was beautiful.

Quistis silently stood at the doorway, observing Rinoa a moment before leaving her to be with Squall.  She would surely be there for her when she was done being alone with him for a moment… or two… or three.

Rinoa stayed in that room all day long.  A one point Irvine and Selphie came to visit her and to check and see if she was all right.  Around dinnertime, Zell actually offered Rinoa a couple of his several hotdogs he bought as soon as the cafeteria restocked them.  Before midnight, Selphie checked on Rinoa one last time before she went to her dorm, and found her asleep by Squall's side. Reluctantly, the cheerful girl woke her up and encouraged Rinoa to go to bed.  That was when she was informed that Cid gave her full permission to remain at the garden for as long as she wished.

That night, Selphie walked Rinoa to her given dorm and informed her that everything would be ok.  Rinoa appreciated her friend's words, but she couldn't help but be a little pessimistic.  She didn't know how to feel or react. All she knew that he was gone and lifeless… and she didn't know what to do.  Realizing this, she suddenly began to feel emptiness in her heart, like a part of her was missing.

And that part was him…

~~~~~~~

Hopefully he would wake up tomorrow… what if he didn't?  Garden was on hold right now... their commander was in a coma.  After recollecting on that flashback, Rinoa had her chin on her knees with her eyes closed and her arms around her legs that were to her chest.  She was getting a little sleepy… but the funny thing was that she basically slept for two days straight.  Giving in to her tiredness, the girl stood, looking up at that bright moon before her one last time before she let the shades slide down to hide the unwanted beauty.  Yes, she would look at it again someday… when he returned to her.

Walking over to her given bed, she sat down, untying her boots and kicking them off recklessly.  Lifelessly, the girl released her muscles, letting her torso fall upon the bed like a rag doll, but with grace.  Once her body made contact with the bed, her eyes closed.  But an unfamiliar sound rung in her ears like a hopeful song that would help her get through all of this… and that was the sound of two rings clanking together from her necklace.  Leaving her eyes closed, Rinoa reached up and took hold of the rings in her palm as they had lain by her side on the bed when she placed herself upon it.  Squalls ring… her ring… they were together, close to her heart.


	2. The mind

_The mind._

The element or complex of elements in an individual that feels, perceives, thinks, wills, and especially reasons.

He used his mind _well_.

Because of his lack of consciousness, he was not able to use any of it.  Perhaps it is ironic that such a thing would happen to the over-thinking Commander.  Maybe it was for his very own good.  But whatever the case, _it happened_, and it was inevitable.

~~~~~~~

Esthar was there, asking to take her away when such ruckus was going on around them in the ocean blue waters.  Battling and fighting, fighting and battling… would it ever end?  Without fighting there would be no peace, without peace there would be no fighting.  Such things had reasons to exist so that the other opposite would exist. 

Right now Galbadia was fighting with Esthar upon the waters with the White SeeD ship smack-dab in the middle.  Ellone was inside the SeeD leader's quarter along with Zone and Watts, and the orphan children surrounding her for comfort.  Watts literally ran around in circles, secretly wanting to cry to Ellone for comfort along with the children.  Zone, trying to keep his cool, was looking out the window nearby to keep watch.

"Oh no, Esthar soldiers boarded… the leader's talking to them now." The boy turned around from the window and looked over to Ellone, seeing that she was handling things calmly.  No surprise at all for him, since she had a very good way with children.  But unfortunately catching sight of his companion running around in circles, made him lose his composure.

"Waaatts! Stop that, you're scaring the children!" Growling under his breath, Zone ran over to Watts, discombobulating the tracks of his circle by grabbing his arm and stopping him in his round.

"S-Sorry, sir! I-I can't help it! I dunno what to do! N-No information to gather, sir!"  His voice cracked, and his legs still jogged in place even though he was stopped.

"Grr, don't make me tie you to a chair!"  Without any further warning, that was what Zone tried to do to his friend.  He grabbed Watts, with all his might to make him stay still as well, and dragged him over to the table that was nearby.  Watts panicked and squirmed around like a wild animal, soon knocking them both to the wooden floor.  Behind their struggle and wrestling with each other as well as yelling, Ellone was now to the window where Zone once was, looking out to the Esthar soldiers.  This was it, and she knew it.  It was time for her to leave.

The boys stopped wrestling and grunting with each other and paused, watching Ellone reach her hand out to the door of the room. Immediately, Zone jumped up from the tangle he was in with Watts as they both stared in shock.  What was she doing?  "Ellone---?!"

Before he could say or ask more, the woman raised her free hand as the other stayed upon the knob of the door.  Her brown eyes stared at the door in front of her as she spoke out in a motherly tone… "Take care of the children."  As if on cue, the children gingerly called out her name questioningly as she opened the door, walking out and closing it behind her.  Zone gasped and ran to the door, opening it with haste and watched as Ellone ran to the deck of the ship.  The children gathered around him, looking out the door to her as well while Watts' head peeked up from below.

The Esthar soldiers had already retreated back to their ship after the discussion with the White SeeDs and were ready to sail away.  Ellone, just realizing this, gasped in fear and ran a little faster.  The leader of the White SeeDs eyes widened as he saw her run by, too shocked to yell out to her or make any movement.  This was _not_ something she would do… or so he _thought_.

Since the ship was almost a great distance away, there was no time to run to the very tip of the deck, so she stopped on the way there, turning to the Esthar ship.  Without any fear, the girl stood on the very edge, raising her head as the sea wind blew through her bobbed brown hair.  Slowly opening her arms out horizontally, to keep her dear green garment to remain on them, the woman smiled and took in a breath of air to call out to the ship.

"Uncle Laguna!"

With that, Ellone jumped forward, landing upon the deck of Esthar's ship.  Watching in awe, the White SeeDs ran over to where Ellone jumped off, along with the leader, and watched as the Esthar ship pulled away.  After Ellone landed, she fell to her knees, letting a couple of Esthar soldiers to help her to her feet.  Carefully, they tended to her and made sure she was all right.  Regaining her composure, the woman turned around and watched as the White SeeD ship got further away by the minute.  Softly, she spoke out into the sea breeze.  "Thank you for everything… good bye."

~~~~~~~

"We'll be arriving at Esthar by tomorrow afternoon."

"All right."

Ellone watched as the soldier left her given room, releasing a sigh from her lips.  It has been a very unusual day for her, and so much has happened.  Finally, she had the chance to get to her precious Uncle Laguna.  It's been quite a few years, but she knew that he would be there to protect her and to welcome her with many open arms.

But why… why didn't he stay with Raine when she needed him the most?  Why did he come after her?  He was so selfish, so unorganized and so perfect at the same time.  There were so many things that he could have done in his life, but at the same time he has done so much.

Ellone frowned and walked over to the chair that was next to the window in the room, taking a seat upon it slowly.  Since it would be a day before they got to Esthar, trying to change the past again wouldn't hurt, now would it?  Taking in a soft breath of air, the woman closed her eyes and relaxed her _mind_… focusing on "connecting" to Squall and the others.  Her brows wrinkled as she concentrated.

Strange… it usually didn't take this long for her powers to take effect…

~~~~~~~

"Booyaka!"

She giggled, tapping the enter button once for her diary entry to post upon her page.  Obeying her _own_ suggestion that she brought out to the rest of the group, Selphie made an online diary so she would not forget the events that were going on with her life. Thanks to the loss of memory the Guardian Forces had upon humans in exchange for power, she had to do so or she would forget everything.

Raising her arms up, the sugary girl stretched them out as if they could touch the ceiling, and afterwards let them fall lifelessly back at her sides.  Not too far away, Irvine watched his childhood love in action and couldn't help but smile at her antics.  The lone star leaned against the wall with his eyes hidden under his cowboy hat, but not far enough for him to not see the surroundings about him.  That was his _secret_ way of checking out girls without them knowing.

Planning out the situation in his head before he asked the spunky girl to go to the cafeteria with him for dinner, he pushed himself off the wall, making his way towards her.  At the same time Selphie stood, picking up a couple of books she had with her.

"Hey Sephie, hold your horses--…" The cowboy stopped in his tracks, beginning to get weak in the knees.  His head began to spin and he kneeled down to the floor, raising his right hand to his head, placing it over his hat.  He had gotten used to that feeling already.  It was Sis, she wanted to use them again.  His eyes automatically wanted to close all of a sudden, and his body wanted sleep; however this time there was an unusual ringing sound throughout his mind… it was as if Ellone was having _trouble_?

Groaning from the eerie sound, Irvine reached up and took hold of one of the seats in the second floor classroom, where Selphie sat not too long ago.  He peeked over, seeing that she was having trouble as well.  Selphie's emerald eyes were tightly closed as her hands were placed over her ears, although it didn't help much at all.  After a few minutes, the ringing sound in their minds stopped and the sudden urges to sleep were gone.

Selphie and Irvine gasped for air as if they were under water for those few minutes.  The cowboy stood, rushing over to Selphie to see if she was all right without thinking twice about himself.  He placed his hands upon her shoulders and helped her sit up, frowning in confusion as they both tried to catch their breath.

"My goodness!" She exclaimed, looking up to Irvine with curious eyes. "What was that all about?"

"I guess you heard the annoying ringing, too?" He asked, dropping his hands from her shoulders and looking her in those curious green eyes.

"I did! Hey, you think the others heard it, too?— It really seemed like Sis was struggling that time… didn't it?"  Selphie stood, losing herself in thought for a few moments before Irvine stood and raised his left hand, taking a hold of the tip of his hat before signaling to the door of the classroom.

"We should go meet up with the others.  Maybe something different happened to them."

"You're right, let's go!"

~~~~~~~

As if the woman lost all energy in her body, Ellone barely stood from the chair she sat before she fell forward onto her knees out of weakness.  She too, was catching her breath as a drop of sweat slid down from the depths of her hair to the middle of her forehead as she leaned over her kneeled legs.  She had full control over Zell, Selphie, Quistis, and Irvine to "connect"… but Squall… what was wrong with Squall?  She had so much trouble getting into the depths of his _mind_ to take him to the past that she cancelled the whole process.

She never experienced something like this before.  Usually, it would always work and everything would go smoothly.  But without Squall to be a part of the past, how could he change it for her?  He was her only hope to succeed in this, and since he wasn't currently in a suspension of consciousness, he was in a state of profound consciousness… and that she didn't know.  But _somehow_, she did know that she would find out soon enough.

~~~~~~~

Those white impressed wings upon the back of her duster were concealed against the small wall under the large window on the left side of the infirmary room.  Hugging her legs to her chest, the pale girl helplessly kept her soft brown eyes on the sleeping lion that lay before her on the bed as she leaned back on the wall.  Resting the back of her head against the wall behind her, she began to wonder what was to become of all of this.  Would he ever open those grayish-blue eyes again? Would she ever again be able to stare back into them and smile because their eyes met?

They say that when you talk to a person in a coma that they take it in as if they listened when they were awake, although they do not remember it when they wake up.  Is this exactly true, though?  She didn't know… or care if it did work that way or not.  But she had to voice her feelings about what was happening.  Not just to anyone, but to _him_.  Maybe that would make her feel a little better---

Why was she feeling this way?  So sad, empty, lonely, and lost…

Well yes, she was always attracted to him.  He was definitely a good-looking guy.  But now… that didn't matter anymore.  She watched from the past weeks how he handled situations and missions, and admired the way he took care of things.  Perhaps he was right about her pathetic little group huddles that didn't get the Forest Owls anywhere.  So full of courage and bravery… there was no time to fear anything.  He just took action after being told what to do.  Maybe that was why he was lost in thought so much, to reflect on what he has done.

Either way… she admired him.  And now, she admired him for the way he looked… valiantly sleeping there like a baby and taking in the dangers of the inevitable coma.

The girl laid her legs out upon the floor before pushing herself to sit up, getting a little closer to his face from the wall.  Slowly, she raised her right hand as her eyes fixed upon his content facial feature, gently letting her index and middle finger slide over his painful-looking scar that traced along his forehead and upper nose.  Just maybe he would open his eyes… and that he did not.  One part of her wished that he would wake up and start scolding her for doing such a thing.  Another part of her wished that he would open his eyes and stare into hers, and give a sweet smile— but that was not like him at all.

Rinoa sighed, allowing her curious hand to explore his face.  After her fingers encountered the forbidden scar area, she slowly let her hand lay softly on his cheek, sliding her thumb over his long eyelashes.  Doing so, this made her smile slightly with a hint of helplessness.  There was a lot of beauty in this boy, and she was glad that she had the chance to observe it a little closer.  Gently, the girl took her hand away and rested her right arm over her left, keeping her eyes on him at all times.

What was this feeling at the bottom of her heart that refuses to go away?  It slightly ached, but it was all new to her.  It did not hurt, but it felt great… refreshing.

She was in love.

The girl in light blue stared at Squall's closed eyes and whispered out in all hopes that he could hear her…

"Squall… come back to me…"


	3. The sound

The sound.

_Did it work?_

_Even that dance was perfect._

_Looks like they have high hopes for you._

_Normally, we would never accept such requests, but…_

_To the Future We Will Go_

_I just want to talk, gazing into those eyes._

_Hey… You're…!_

_H…Hey…That girl…!_

_I couldn't… I just couldn't._

_But… Of course, I'd rather it not happen…_

_"Hey."_

_The light blue blur was hard to make out, though the voice _sounded_ much clearer than the others.  It was obvious who it was, but it was hard to get a clearer sight of _her_ standing in the room.  The odd thing was that _she_ was the only blur.  The rest of the room was as clear as day.  And what was frightening was when she moved, the area surrounding her began to become a blur as well.  It was as if she were living upon a painting and smearing the colorful liquid around her even when she blinked._

_She spun around, walking a couple of steps away, and then turned around again, placing her hands behind her blurry body._

_"You looked so adorable, sleeping like a baby."_

_After her last sentence, there was a dead silence that closed in upon the room.  Even a dropping pin meeting contact to the floor would be so loud.  And softly, only her voice was _heard_…_

_"Come on, get up. Let's go."_

_……. ?……._

_And then her enchanting laughter filled the fading room as it twirled into nothingness._

_Complete silence._

~~~~~~~

A simple saying: Silence is golden.

Why?

In our every day life, do we ever experience this "silence"?  Perhaps that is why it is golden.  It is very hard to attain such a thing when sound is made wherever you go.  However, does anyone stop to realize if silence is ever achieved?  Of course not.

Another simple saying: Silence is loud.

Perhaps if or when we do experience this "silence" are we only left with more noise: the loudness of silence.  Unfortunately, this simple saying is a paradox of the first simple saying.  Maybe there is no such thing as "silence".

But right now, this boy would break his personal "silence" with the _sound_ of his feet landing upon the tile floor of Balamb Garden.  Smiling brightly, Zell stood up straight and turned around, watching Rinoa catch up to him in a casual walk.  Slightly forcing a smile, the girl kept her eyes on him, soon approaching his side and walking along with him towards the cafeteria.

"How was _that_?"  His pearly whites shown, allowing himself to be fully proud of the stunts he just preformed.  Although he nearly did it every day, he was happy to show his flips to Rinoa, especially if that meant trying to cheer her up.  Yes, he got a smile, but it wasn't _her_…

The girl placed her hands behind her back, looking down at her boots as she walked forward, before looking back up and over her shoulder at her hotheaded friend.  Her brown eyes blinked softly as she stared at him a moment before speaking out.

"I'm not _that_ surprised, Zell… I mean, don't you do that almost every day?"  The martial artist stopped in his tracks and stared at Rinoa with his jaw dropped in surprise.  Was he… insulted?  Noticing that he stopped, the girl stopped as well, refusing to turn around and look at him.  She smirked to herself, hiding it from him with the advantage that he only saw her back.  That was her intention, to see if he would get upset over her statement.  Before he could express that she was "dissin'" him, she interrupted him just in time.

"Why you dis---"

"---_Although_…"  She spoke up louder than him, spinning around to show him her playful smirk.  Keeping her arms behind her back, she leaned forward as she spoke.  "I'm _very_ impressed."

With that, she turned around again, continuing to walk towards their destination without hesitation.  Zell stood there a moment and watched her, letting his jaw reconnect to his skull.  Thinking over what she said, he straightened out his shirt, that proud smile again returning to his lips.  Throwing his right fist into his left palm, he began to jog after her into the cafeteria.

~~~~~~~

"Over here, guys!"

Not too long ago, Quistis announced over the loudspeaker for everyone to meet up at the cafeteria.  Apparently, she wanted to bring up what happened earlier with their "connection" concerning Ellone.  Even though Rinoa had nothing to do with the situation, she was still summoned along with the rest of the gang.  She was their _friend_.

Zell and Rinoa walked over to the round table in the cafeteria where the others were seated, and took a seat themselves.

Irvine and Selphie acknowledged Rinoas presence from the infirmary.  They both knew that she mostly stayed in there from now on… or at least until _he_ woke up.  It was a surprise to see that she had the ability to leave him for this special meeting.  The girl gave a nod and looked over to Quistis from across the table, resting her arms upon it.

"'Sup, guys?  Is this about the dream world…thing?"  Zell asked out of curiosity, although already knowing the answer.

"Yes, what happened with you?"  Questioned Quistis, looking at him with a sincere expression on her features.  Since she already asked Irvine and Selphie before he arrived, it was his turn to explain.

"Well, at first I got that sleepy feeling… you know, the _normal_ process before fully getting knocked out.  But then, I kinda… I dunno.  I guess you can say there was this really annoying squeaking that didn't stop until the whole sleepiness faded away."

"That's it!"  Selphie stood, laying her palms flat out upon the round table.  She gasped at herself and looked at her group of friends with wide eyes watching her.  Poor Rinoa was completely oblivious to what was going on.  All she knew was that Ellone sent them to the past to view the adventures of Laguna, Kiros and Ward.  

"Uh… what's what, Sephie?"  The cowboy adjusted his hat, narrowing his eyes at the girl.

"Hello, don't you guys get it?  Sis couldn't send us to the dream world this time because of Squall!  Of course nothing different happened to us, we all experienced the same thing, you know?  She cancelled it because of Squall…"

"So like, why would she cancel it for all of us just because Squall is incapable of doing it?"  Irvine asked, frowning at the excited girl.

The blonde woman spoke out, releasing her internal question.  "Guys, have you noticed that ever since this whole 'dream world' thing started taking place, that Squall always fell asleep, each time?"

"Whoa, you're right, instructor!"

"Oh Hyne, you're right!"  Selphie squeaked, taking her seat once again.  "So that means… that Sis definitely knows that something's wrong with Squall… and just maybe…"

"…she can do something…"  Irvine continued her sentence.

"… To help bring him back."  The girl in light blue finished the sentence, and her comrades turned their heads to look at her.  _Silently_ she stood, looking to all of them before closing her eyes and bringing her left hand to the dangling rings upon her necklace.  She said no more.

Understanding what was needed to be done, Quistis stood as well, nodding to them all.  "We will not remain idle any longer.  We must find Ellones whereabouts and get to her as soon as possible."

"YEAH!"  Zell threw himself from his seated position and faced Quistis, giving a nod.  Soon after, his right fist met his left palm once again, getting pumped up for the upcoming events.  "When she was here last, the White SeeDs took her away on that ship, right?  I remember, man… they said somethin' about bein' Edea's SeeD.  That's what we gotta look for!"

Quistis turned to Zell, folding her arms across her chest and nodding at his words.  "You're absolutely right.  Then let us waste no time.  I'm going to go to the bridge and tell Nida to take us to Edea's house… that's where she is currently staying.  In the meantime, sit tight guys."  With that, Quistis ran off through the cafeteria with an excited Zell following behind.

~~~~~~~

_Silence_ and Motion.

To think of Laguna to be a President would be a sin.

In that case, everyone was a sinner.

Like a princess, Ellone was carefully escorted down the long hallway of the Presidential Palace in Esthar with the help of several Estharian soldiers.  It was a Presidential _Palace_, all right, although the whole city seemed to be.  The wonderful, mysterious, xenophobic city of Esthar.  She loved it.

Once to the sliding doors of his office, the soldiers backed off and stopped following her, allowing her to enter as she pleased.  Smiling, the woman inhaled staring at the doors for a short moment before walking towards them, letting them slide open from sencing her presence.

Kiros and Ward were standing face to face, but turned towards the door once it opened.  Ward didn't need words to express himself since the large smile on his lips said it all beneath the blonde beard. Ellone looked to them standing next to each other, returning the smile and jogged over with open arms, falling into Ward's welcome arms to give a warm-hearted hug.

After a moment, Ward let go of the small girl, letting her greet the graceful Kiros who patiently waited for his "hello".  Chuckling softly, Kiros welcomed the hug as well, patting the girl on the back in a comforting way.  Hyne, she was like their child since they have gone through so much to save her so many times.

"Elle!!!"

Gasping, the girl broke the hug with Kiros, looking to her left and over at the man who gave everything just to hear her voice and that went on a wild journey to save her.

"Uncle Laguna!"

Laughing, the man still had enough energy in him to run over to her with open arms, and so she did as well.  They hugged tightly in an unbreakable embrace, and Ellone laughed whole-heartedly in happiness.  Laguna pulled away some to put his hands on the girl's head, nuzzling at her cheek like he did so many times before when she was little.  Afterwards, he stopped and looked her in the eyes, his smile as bright as the sun.

Kiros and Ward couldn't help but smile at the sight before them.  It was as if this certain scene played back so many times in their lives.  But out of all of the ones that happened before, this scene was the most comforting.

They were reunited together once again.


	4. The search

**T**hank you for the kind reviews, everyone.  I feel like I'm starting to confuse myself with this idea.  But your encouraging words are really pushing me to continue... I really appreciate it.

_______

_The search._

"What was I saying again?  Oh yeah, I've been extremely busy with everything going on here.  There was so much work to do in this place when I was put into office… everything was so unorganized and misplaced, but when I came along, that all changed!  It took a while to get used to all of this service and things goin' on, but it was a cinch when I got the hang of it.  So anyway…"

Kiros and Ward exchanged glances.  It's been over an hour the two have been talking, but it was mostly _him_ talking.

"……."  Ward rolled his eyes and looked back over to the two, and at the same time, Kiros smiled before turning his gaze back to them as well.  He shook his head and lowered it some, letting out a hopeless laugh.  It would never end, would it?

On the other hand, Ellone sat and listened to every word he was saying.  From spending most of her life with the man, she has grown used to the amount of words he spoke, once he got started talking.  The woman smiled softly, resting her chin on her hand from her elbow leaning on the table, and continued to listen.

Laguna was standing, throwing his hands about and getting deep into his pointless conversations.  But before he could speak any further, he was interrupted.

"……."  Ward raised his arms, shaking his head from left to right with an expression on his face as if he were getting annoyed.  Kiros looked to his actions and face expression, and then turned to face Laguna, ready to voice his opinion as well as translate what Ward meant by his sudden movements.

"What, whaaat?" Laguna yelled out playfully, looking at his two companions.

"Ward's saying that you're talking too much, and I agree.  Why don't you ask her to come along with you to your trip tonight?"  Kiros talked smoothly, and he always has.  There was something about the man that was very graceful and calm, and over the years, that never left him.

Laguna hunched over slightly, placing his right hand on his hip as the other reached to the back of his head, scratching lightly.  "Huh…?  Oh yeah! That!"  He then looked to Ellone, dropping his arms back to his sides, but once again throwing them up as he spoke out.  "I'm going to do some checkups on Adel in space tomorrow morning, since the scientists here keep _babbling_ to me about the Lunar Cry coming soon… or something."

"_Babbling_?"  Kiros brought his right hand to his lips, or whatever he could from the long sleeves of the Esthar attire.  He snickered, nudging Ward with his left elbow.

"……."

"Hey, shut up!"

Ellone smiled, watching as the three playfully teased each other.  They were the greatest guys to be around.  She chuckled, which caused Laguna to throw his attention back at her.  "So _anyway_…"  He threw a squinty glare at Kiros and Ward before he looked back at her.  "I'm leaving for space tonight.  Would ya wanna come with me?"

Space? Now that was a place she has never been before.  But since he was going, she wouldn't mind to join at all.  "I'd love to."

"Great!"  The President reached a hand over, playfully messing up Ellone's hair like old times.  The girl chuckled and reached up, fixing her hair back to the way it was, like she always has.  "We still have few good solid hours before we go, so… ya' hungry?"

~~~~~~~

To be the Knight of a Sorceress… was that a privilege?  So many things to look out for. So much protecting to do.  It is obvious that a Knight of a Sorceress had to be strong physically, mentally, and determined to remain by the Witch's side at all times.  To ease the mind and the soul of the woman "gifted" with such incredible powers from Hyne himself to humanity.  One slipup, and the Sorceress would be forever lost in the tides of destruction and eternal evil.

It was the Knight's duty to be the Sorceress' significant other, the everlasting bond at the heart to keep her stable.

So did Headmaster Cid _meet these qualities_ and _do his job_ as Edea's Knight?

Quistis, Selphie and Zell stood around their mother-like persona, lisening to her soft words and information about the White SeeD ship.  Irvine and Rinoa stayed behind at Garden, watching and keeping an eye on Squall.  Headmaster Cid stood his ground behind his wife, remaining silent and listening to her words as well.

"Those children are… very cautious.  I do not have any idea on where they are; however, they have taken a liking to the central continent."

The three nodded in understanding, and Quistis spoke up.  "Thank you, Marton."  As if on cue, Selphie and Zell began to head back to the Garden after the appreciation.  Quistis turned to leave as well, but was stopped when Edea placed a hand on her shoulder.

"And if you succeed in finding them, please give them this letter I wrote.  They are ones who need some sort of proof to trust anyone."  Quistis took the letter that was handed to her and looked down at it.  For a second she looked at the graceful handwriting upon it, before looking back up to her "mother" with a content smile.  There was a beautiful vibe that surrounded the older woman, and Quistis loved the feeling of it.  Giving a soft nod, Quistis placed her gloved hand over Edeas that was upon her shoulder before turning and exiting the house.

~~~~~~~

_"So like… it's all right to admit that you have some sort of feelings for him."_

_"……hm?  Sorry, what was that?"_

_"Well, if you would stop staring at him for a minute, ya' would've heard—"_

_"I am _not_ staring at him!"_

_"Suuure. Whatever you say, darlin'."_

_"Are you finished?  What were you saying?"_

_"As I was sayin'… you're falling for him, aren't you?"_

She froze for a moment.  How dare he ask such a question?  The girl turned her head away from the cowboy sitting across the infirmary room, allowing her dark hair to help hide her face.  Oh my, what was this?  Was Rinoa Heartilly… blushing?

Irvine watched her and smirked, leaning back against the wall next to the stool he sat upon.  Rinoa was seated on the bed next to Squall with her legs brought to the side, facing the window that Squall once saw Ellone through.

_"…Be quiet… he can hear you."_

_"Is that a 'yes'?"_

_"…….Irvine.."_

_"All right, all right."_

Upon hearing the door of the infirmary open, the two turned to see who it was.  The rest of the ganged walked in.  Wanting to know of any news, the girl in light blue stood and walked out of Squall's room, meeting up with the others.  Not only anxious to know of the news, she also wanted to get away from Irvine's question.  Did he have to ask that question?  Wasn't it obvious?

After Rinoa left the room, Irvine leaned over to get closer to Squall's ear, whispering as if loud enough for just him to hear.

_"Score, baby!"_

With that, the cowboy stood, adjusting his hat, and followed after Rinoa with a small smirk on his lips.

"We don't know how long it will take to find them, but we're on our way now.  I just gave Nida the appropriate whereabouts of where they could be.  Hopefully it won't be long until we do find them."  Although she wasn't an instructor anymore, she sure has taken command and duty of the situations at hand.  More than any other person, Squall would want Quistis to do just that if he were in any circumstance where he could not.  Even though it didn't seem like it, Squall respected Quistis's abilities.

Irvine and Rinoa nodded in understanding, taking the information in.  Zell and Selphie walked past their friends and into Squall's infirmary room to visit.  Quistis watched them and sighed, raising her left arm to lean against her stomach as her right hand reached up and tucked a thick blonde strand behind her ear.  "So how's our Commander doing?"  Basically the question was focused on Rinoa to answer, and she knew it.

"Still going strong…"  Rinoa trailed off. What more was there to say?  It was obvious that there were no signs of life coming from him at all.  Quistis closed her eyes and gave a nod, walking past the cowboy and the angel, following the others.

The two watched her and exchanged glances.  Rinoa had the expression of a helpless little girl on her features, and Irvine sighed, reaching his right hand up and placing it over his hat on his head.  For once, he didn't know what to say.

"I'm gonna go take a walk around…"

He nodded, and dropped his hand from his head, flicking the tip of his hat.  "Don't worry, we'll keep an eye on him."

~~~~~~~

It was amazing how the Garden traveled.  It didn't feel like it was at all.  It smoothly floated above all the lands and bodies of water it traveled over.  Since Edea's house was not to far away from the central continent, they were basically already there, and _searching_…

Again she felt like an outcast.  All of the students at the Garden were dressed in uniform, having books in their arms and were ready to learn.  On the other hand, Rinoa walked around the circular hallway of the Garden in her usual unique attire of light blue.  With that being her favorite color, she was proud to wear it, even though it made her stand out like a black dot on a sheet of white paper.

After visiting the library for a good amount of time, the girl made her way to the directory and up the main and only stairs of Balamb Garden.  Upon waiting patiently for the elevator to arrive, it opened and a couple of students walked out, observing Rinoa for a split second before going where they needed to go.  She hated the feeling of awkwardness.

Once to the second floor, the girl made her way to the second floor balcony.  Hopefully no one would be there to _observe_ her.  She thought back to the time when the Garden first started moving, and remembered smiling at him from the beautiful sight at that balcony.  That was when he was awake.

No one was on the balcony, fortunately, and she smiled to herself, casually walking over to the edge and placing her hands on the railing.  It was all hers.  Naturally, the wind was blowing and the ocean blue water could be seen in the distance.  The land that they were traveling over looked dry, deserted.  It had a brownish-red color to it and it was mostly rocky.

It has been about an hour and a half since she was with the others… how much longer would it take to find the ship?  What if Ellone couldn't do anything to help bring Squall back?  Rinoas smile faded as she thought about the several things that could happen, and the things that couldn't happen.

The past couple of days were long… too much for her to handle, especially with the fact that Squall wasn't with them… _with her_.  It is ironic that she figured out she was in love with him when he is gone, away from this world.  But now with that known, will she ever be able to tell him with him actually listening?

The emotions in her built up, and she lowered her head from the welcoming and relaxing breeze, even if her hair was dancing around her face because of it.  A single tear traveled down her pale cheek, fighting against the wind to make it down further.

Rinoa sniffled, closing her eyes and allowing the wind to comfort her.  She could do this… she was a strong person.  She would never give up hope.  Reassuring her not to give up, the girl faintly heard the sound of the loudspeaker from where she was standing.  Before she turned around to get a better hearing of it, her soft brown eyes caught an image she would never forget.

Balamb Garden was pulling up next to the White SeeD ship.

~~~~~~~

Quistis, Irvine Selphie and Zell ran to the second floor balcony, leaving Dr. Kadowaki to look over Squall.  The only place they could board their ship was to get there from that balcony.

As they arrived, Rinoa stood not too far away, waving them over.  Quistis walked over to the edge of the balcony, looking down and seeing a few White SeeDs looking up at them.  At the same time, Irvine grabbed a small rope ladder that was on the balcony and flipped it over the edge so they could board.

"We're unarmed!"  With that, the blonde woman began to climb down the ladder with Irvine and Zell following close behind.  Selphie stayed behind with Rinoa.

The leader of the White SeeD stepped forward, facing the lioness before him with her companions by her sides.  Like her, he had companions by his sides as well, just incase.

"Yes?  Depending on your request, we might have to ask you to leave."

"We are searching for Ellone."  The SeeDs gasped, looking at each other before placing eyes back on Quistis.  "A couple of weeks ago, from what I recall, you came here to pick her up.  She's here, right?"

The White SeeD leader lowered his head and spoke out firmly.  "We have to ask you to leave."

Edea was right, they were _very_ cautious.  "But wait, please, I have a letter from Edea… she told me to give it to you."  Quistis held out the letter in her gloved hand.

Raising his head once again, there was a look of shock upon the man's face as he looked from her and to the letter in front of him.  He took the letter, holding it in both of his hands as he nodded to his companions as if it were all right to be at ease.  The man walked towards the deck of the ship, looking down and reading the letter.  Quistis never took eyes off of him; she had to know what was going on.

After finishing the letter, the leader looked off into the ocean before him, folding the letter.

Quistis couldn't wait any longer.  She sighed and walked over to him with the eyes of Irvine and Zell on her.  "Look… we know that you are very cautious people, but Squall is in need of help, and Ellone is the only person who could help him."

"She is no longer here."

~~~~~~~

"I wonder what's being said?"  Selphie peeked over at the people below, holding onto the railing so that she wouldn't fall like a klutz.  Rinoa took a look over the edge of the balcony as well, getting a better look of the ship.

Zone walked down from the captain's quarter of the ship, looking over to Watts standing a few good feet away from the leader and the others.  Out of curiosity, he walked beside his friend, looking up at the huge Garden that was beside their small little ship---

"!!! RINOA!"

Watts jumped in startlement from his friend's sudden scream, and thought a moment to take in what he just said.  "R-Rinoa?!"  Without another word, Zone was already running towards the balcony of the garden.

Rinoa gasped after hearing her name being called, looking over towards the voice and seeing her companion.  Smiling brightly, she screamed out as well.  "Zone, Watts!"  She ran over to the ladder, going down no matter what.  She was met with a hug from her friends, happy to see that she was ok.  And she felt the same for them.

"What are you guys doing here?"  She asked, leaned on her right leg.

"We went through a lot to get here, but that doesn't matter.  I-I'm… so happy to see you again."  There was a growling sound admitting from his stomach, and he backed up a few steps, crouching down and clutching it.  "O-ooww, my stomach!"

Rinoa laughed at Zone, turning to look at Watts, the boy with all the information.  She spoke out softly.  "I'm so glad you guys are all right.  I'm still gonna stay with them, okay? There's something I need to take care of…"  The girl turned around and looked at Quistis giving the SeeD salute to the leader of the White SeeDs.  It was time to go.

"All right, sir!  Don't worry about us, you just be careful, Rinoa."

"We'll get back together again and liberate Timber… I promise."  She walked backwards, soon turning around and walking towards the ladder where Zell waited for her to climb first.

Watts waved as the Garden pulled away, and Zone groaned some more from his aching stomach.  The poor guy.

On the balcony, Quistis looked to her friends as they all waited for a logical explanation.  And that she gave them.

"Ellone isn't on their ship… Esthar has her now."


	5. The sight

**H**yne, I love you people!  You are so nice, thank you _so much_.

_______

The sight.

"Hey, again."

_She slowly began to appear, along with the rest of the room.  This time, she was very visible.  The same room, around her, was blurry this time.  She was beautiful, as always, her facial feature serious and her eyes looking forward… _at him.  _Her voice wasn't as clear as last time, though… it echoed throughout his mind and _memory_._

_Several seconds passed by as she stared at him until, like a broken record, she zipped from one position to another, looking upwards with her hand up as she spoke._

_"You know… you're always too deep in thought.  Why don't you lighten up a little?  It's not good to think too much.  What I'm trying to say is…"_

_The sound of her voice, after her last statement, went from a heartfelt tone to a sad, hurt tone.  Her image disappeared as the room twirled into nothingness, as it did last time._

_And her sad voice was once again heard clearly…_

_"..I need you, Squall…"_

…Rinoa…

_"I wasn't lying when I told you that you were the best looking guy at the party… but there was something about you that drew me closer.  I didn't just want to dance; I wanted to try to get closer to you… in a way.  It was a coincidence that we met again in Timber, wasn't it?  I guess Fate… wanted us to meet again.  We've been through so much together so far… had a few little arguments and touching moments, but… look at you now.  What am I supposed to do now that you're gone like this?"_

_"We're searching for Ellone… maybe she can help bring you back to us… to me.  In the meantime.. don't give up.  Hold on just a little longer… I know you will.  You're much stronger than I am."_

~~~~~~~

The helpless girl was kneeled by the side of the bed once again, looking to the same expression on his face that he had for the few days now.  She sighed and placed her right hand on her forehead and bangs, closing her eyes as she tried to hold back the many tears that wanted to fall.  She couldn't cry now… there was still hope.  She just had to be a little more optimistic like she always has.

Her eyelids wrinkled a bit as she made her eyes tightly closed, bringing her hands over her face.  She wondered if her words would reach him… or if he could hear her clearly.  Either way, she tried, and that was the best she could do.

Sliding her hands up her face, she ran her fingers through her hair and looked back over to Squall.  Rinoa once again fought back the tears and victory was hers, leaving her eyes as wet as they needed to be.

The Garden was already on its way to Fisherman's Horizon.  Since the xenophobic Esthar was surrounded by a variety of mountains, Balamb Garden was incapable of traveling directly there.  And because FH had shutdown railroads that lead directly there, that was the road they were going to take and walk… all the way there.  They would do that for Squall.  Before they left for FH, Cid requested for the Garden to pick them up.  It seemed like Edea wanted to come along for the journey as well.

Taking in a deep breath of air, she let it out softly, hearing the door of the infirmary slide open.  Rinoa blinked softly and looked up to see who it was.  It was none other than Selphie Tilmitt herself.

The girl in yellow walked deeper into the infirmary, turning to the doorway that lead into Squall's specific room.  She looked down at Rinoa kneeled right next to him, never leaving his side, like a guardian angel.  "Hey, Rinoa, how's he doing?"

The girl in light blue shook her head softly, turning her gaze back to the sleeping lion.  During the last few days she has been awake, Rinoa's spirits were down a great amount.  Everyone noticed, but Selphie was going to voice it out to her, unlike the others.  Biting her bottom lip, the cheerful girl walked deeper into the room, taking a seat upon the same stool Irvine once sat upon.  Her green eyes looked over at Squall, remaining silent for a little longer until she spoke up.

"I know this is hard for you, Rinoa… it's hard for all of us."  The two girls were silent for a few seconds longer.  Rinoa kept her eyes on Squall for those few seconds until she looked up at Selphie when she began to speak again.

"Squall always had this… wall up around him.  He was always quiet and to himself, never sharing his thoughts.  But you know…"  Selphie sat up a little more, leaning back against the wall behind her and placing one hand on top of the other on her lap.  She managed to smile a little and look directly into her brown eyes as reassurance.  "…that wall began to look like it was getting thinner every time you spoke to him… even looked at him.  Trust me, I've noticed it.  I didn't think your straightforward approach would work, but it did.  I'm glad I was wrong."

Rinoa stared at her friend for a moment before a soft smile crept across her face.  A _true_ one.  Selphie returned the smile with her own bright one full of hope and understanding.  "So don't lose your spirited composure now… Squall needs it more than ever now, to survive."

"You're right, Selphie… thank you so much."  As if on cue, the loudspeaker rang and Quistis's voice was heard throughout the Garden.

"We've arrived at FH.  We'll be docked here for a while, so please make yourselves comfortable.  Irvine, Zell… please head to the infirmary.  I'll meet you there."  With that, the loudspeaker was cut off and all was silent again.  Selphie stood and hopped up once, throwing her arms up in the air one by one.  "Now let's get him back! WOO-HOO!"

~~~~~~~

"I-In there?  You've gotta be kidding me."

"Yes, sir, this capsule will take you to the main space station where Adel is sealed.  They are already aware of your coming.  Inside, you will undergo a sleep which will make it seem like the trip is short."

"Come on, Uncle Laguna, how scary could it be?"

Fearlessly, the woman walked towards the stairs that lead to the capsule where she would go to the space station in.  Laguna panicked and watched her get closer, throwing out an arm towards her and yelling.  "Elle--!"

Now in front of the capsule, Ellone turned around with a laughing smile upon her lips, giving a small wave to her dear Uncle Laguna before turning around and entering it.  The capsule door closed, and traveled up to its designated place.  Laguna shivered slightly, and took in a big gulp, audible enough for the scientist nearby to hear.

"The trip is completely safe, Mr. President.  We would never steer you wrong."  Another capsule traveled up, welcoming Laguna as it opened its door out to him.

"A-All right."  With that, the man hesitantly walked up the stairs, standing in front of the capsule for a moment to scratch his head and hunch.  Taking in a deep breath, he bravely walked in, allowing the door to close behind him.  And so it traveled up, along with Ellone's, and readied to launch into the vastness of space.

~~~~~~~

The gang was all walking along the railroad, now.  Zell, Selphie, Quistis, Irvine, Rinoa, Edea and Squall.  His lifeless arms were draped behind Irvine and Zell's necks and the boys walked their companion along with them.  Sure he had a good amount of weight on him, but it was nothing the guys couldn't handle.

Rinoa walked by their sides, looking to see if they were ok now and then.  The three other women were up front, leading the way.

Apparently, Edea wanted to join them to talk to a scientist in Esthar to rid herself of Sorceress Ultimecia's control.  With full understanding, the others agreed without hesitation to her request.  Why would they refuse?

Not many words were said along the way unless it was from Zell, groaning from the pain in his neck that Squall's arm was provoking.  They were all mostly _silent._  It was ironic that the gang talked much when Squall had the ability to be conscious around them, but when gone, they had grown _silent_.   They missed him very much.

The sun was setting now, which gave the sky above a creamy orange glow.  They all had a great view of the wide sky since no buildings or things were in the way of the _sight_.  Only a seemingly everlasting railroad that lead to Esthar.  They stopped once, letting Irvine and Zell take a break, but it wasn't long until they picked the helpless Lion up again and continued on their way.

They didn't walk too much longer until they finally reached the end of the railroad and came upon an Iceland, where mountains of white extended a long way upon the snow-covered earth.  Selphie and Quistis navigated the area, deciding on the best possible way to go which would lead them to Esthar.

And through various little snowstorms the gang traveled through, walking by deep craters and avoiding any serious monsters that would cross their path.  Zell looked up and blinked, noticing some… _interferences_ in the air…?

"Yo, look at that!"  He spoke up, signaling the others with a simple nudge towards the part of the "air" he looked upon.

They all looked up at the _static_.  Something was definitely fishy.  "What the…?"  Selphie spoke up, squinting her eyes and staring up at it.

Quistis walked over, raising her right hand and placing her hand upon the "wall of air" that was before them.  "?! Huh…?"  The others watched in curiosity as the young woman inspected the area.  She let her hand travel around a bit more until she felt a dent, then applied pressure.

A door opened from above, making it obvious to everyone that this was no ordinary sky.  It was a _disguise_.

"Heeeey!"

"No way!"

"What a clever disguise…"  Rinoa spoke out last, walking over and checking out the area beneath the door.  There were a variety of horizontal poles that lead up, as a ladder, but _invisible_ to the eye.  Realizing this, she began to climb, as the others watched a moment before following without another word to be said.

After getting Squall up the ladder with the rest of the group, there was a long metallic hallway that lead to a door on the other end.  With no other place to go, the group walked forward, ready for anything.

"This is amazing… is this Esthar?"  Quistis asked, opening the door in their way before making her way through, followed by the others.

"Who knows… but there's no way I'm headin' back, after all this travelin'."  Irvine replied, continuing to help Zell with Squall.

"I agree, my neck's killin' me!"  Zell groaned, gathering up more strength in him to make it through this, just a little longer.

Soon, they all stopped and stood on a platform.  It seemed like a dead end.  Selphie threw her arms down with her muscles tight upon them.  "Oh no, what now?!"

They all looked around, upon the walls and to the ceiling.  Nothing… until the room started to vibrate slightly.  All startled, they looked around frantically as the room began to become bright; until it revealed a vast and technologically colorful city around them.

"Goodness!"  Selphie yelled in surprise, speaking for everyone.  With a look of amazement upon their faces, the gang was completely speechless.  The platform they stood upon moved, disconnecting from the wall it was attached to and began to travel downwards with great speed.  It looked as if they would all fall off, but due to the technology that this place seemed to have pretty well, they didn't even feel a tickle in their stomachs.

During what seemed like a roller coaster ride, Rinoa looked to Squall who was still being held in the middle of their companions.  His head hung low, completely unaware and oblivious of the events that were taking place around him.  In the corner of her eye, she saw Irvine look to her, which made her look to him.  He winked playfully and raised his right hand, giving her a thumbs up.  He smiled as she gave him a nod.  They were surely there.

After the transportation, the platform slowed down and connected to a piece of the metallic land of Esthar, allowing the group to walk off.

They waited around a little bit before Rinoa spoke.  "Do you think they know we're here?"

Quistis answered her question to the best of her ability.  "Most likely… we should have some company soon."

A few minutes passed and a couple of cars appeared, pulling up next to the group.  The door of the passenger side opened to one of them and a man stood out, wearing a long robe of the Estharian attire.  The man looked to them all, allowing his eyes to stop on Edea.  "Sorceress Edea, Dr. Odine's been expecting you."

The graceful woman turned to face the man, giving a soft nod in understanding.  "I thought so.  Shall we?"

The man turned to face the others, who only looked like a handful of teenagers.  "May I ask what business you have here?"  It was a sincere question.

Quistis looked to Rinoa, stepping forward and basically talking for her since she had full SeeD authority and formality.  Rinoa knew this, and didn't mind at all. She was glad.

"We're here for Ellone.  We must be reunited with her as soon as possible."

The man nodded in understanding, and turned to face the car again.  "Understood, please this way."

The group was given a relaxing car ride with an added guided tour of the wonderful city of Esthar.  Rinoa's soft brown eyes couldn't stop staring out the window at the magnificent scenery.  She smiled gently, sliding her bangs from her eyes and leaning back in the chair.  "What a beautiful city…"

After arriving at the Presidential palace, the gang was guided to a 'waiting' room.  There, Irvine and Zell were able to lay Squall down on a cushioned chair.  Hopping around freely on his tippy-toes, Zell happily stretched himself out a little, free from half of Squall's weight.

Rinoa walked near the chair where Squall lay, standing by his side at all times.

The man who walked the group there turned to Edea once again.  "What business do you have with Dr. Odine?"

"I wish to be free from Sorceress Ultimecia's control."  Edea spoke out smoothly, standing there proudly and full of confidence.  And then there was another voice heard in the room.

"Zat will be easy."  The short scientist walked into the room with unusual-looking Estharian attire upon himself.  There was a circular, colorful board-like piece of clothing that connected around his neck, and his hair was pulled back tightly, and into a high ponytail.

Edea turned to him and smiled, bowing once.  "I'm sure it will be very easy for you, Doctor.  Although, these children wish to see Ellone as soon as possible."

"Mmm…"  Dr. Odine scanned the six "children" in the room… but his eyes fell upon Rinoa who was protectively standing by Squall's side.  He squinted his eyes and stared at her a minute before walking closer, looking down to Squall.  He spoke out an order to his assistant in the room.  "Give zem permission."

"Yes, sir."

"However, I would like to obzerve this boy.  My assiztant will inform you on vhat to do."

The group looked to the doctor's assistant, waiting for some answers.

"Don't worry, we'll take care of the boy.  When you all are ready, please head to the Lunar Gate.  We will take him there, too.  If you would like, you could take a look around the city, but I suggest you guys rest up a bit, that was quite some trip you took."

Quistis and the others nodded in understanding, and began to walk towards the door.  As Rinoa walked with her friends to the door, there were a pair of eyes on her, and she could feel them beaming at her back.  But then she ignored the feeling of being watching with the realization that she was going to leave Squall for now.  The others left, and Rinoa was the last to leave, but turned around when she was at the doorway, looking to Squall lying upon the chair for one last time.

That's when she saw the pair of eyes she felt on her.  It was Doctor Odine.  Feeling awkward, Rinoa turned back around and headed out the door, catching up with the others.

The doctor raised his head slightly, staring at the door, and placed his short arms behind his back.  A look of suspicion came over his features.

_______

**I**'m sorry if this chapter was so boring, but there was a lot of traveling to do… I couldn't just skip it all.  Plus I still have school, and that always wrecks the brain, haha.  Please review to let me know what you think.

--Jenn


	6. The revelation

_The revelation._

Hyne, if only she could share this _sight_ with him now.

It was the _moon_; the _moon_ that she swore not to look at until he returned.  But because of how incredibly large and bright it was, she could not deny that it was beautiful, and a pleasure to look at.

 The _search_ was basically over; they had found Ellone, but were informed that she was currently in space.  And so, they would go to her.  Their trip would be early the next morning since they needed time to rest up from their long journey to find the city.

It was amazing how Ellone had the ability to use the _mind_ of the people she knew and cared about to try to change the events of the past.  Although it was strange that she started doing it recently.  Why start it now?  Maybe the realization of how things turned out hit her until recently.  But whatever the case, it was her choice and no one else's.

The _sounds_ of the technologically advanced city surrounded her ears, hearing the every day lift that helped Estharians get from here to there.  It wasn't as quiet as Balamb at night, but it was sure a beautiful view to look at from a high window; not that Balamb Garden wasn't a sight for sore eyes.

Rinoa sat up from the high window of a resident hotel from leaning on the windowsill, running her right hand through her hair.  She hasn't been getting the proper amount of sleep in the past few days, and she knew it.  Slowly, she stood up and closed the window a bit, leaving it open slightly so the cool air could find it's way in.  Turning to the bed, she began to walk to it until a soft knock was heard at the door.

Hearing this, the girl walked over to the door and pushed the button on the side, letting it slide open.  Looking up to the woman, she smiled a little letting her hand return to her side from the button.  "Hey, what's up?  Wanna come in?"

Quistis smiled, shaking her head from left to right.  "That's all right, no need.  I just wanted to let you know that only a couple of us could go to space tomorrow morning.. and the others told me that you and I should go.  They are going to stay here and take care of Matron."

Rinoa stared at Quistis for a moment, giving a few blinks before speaking out.  She brought her left hand to her necklace and looked down to the floor.  "Me…?  Why me?"

"Why you?"  Quistis chuckled lightly, and crossed her arms over her chest, looking at the girl.  "You've been by Squall's side the minute you woke up from your coma.  Of course we have as well, but you hogged him all for yourself."  It was a playful comment.

"I'm sorry…"

"No, don't be.  Squall needs something like that in his life—_someone_ like that.  I'm sure you want to go, and I'm also sure that he will be happy to see you when he wakes up."

"Quistis…"  The girl in light blue didn't know what to say.  There was no guarantee that he would wake up in space.

"Where did the optimistic Rinoa go?"  Rinoa looked up and dropped her hand from the rings on her necklace with a small smile on her lips.

"Thank you… for everything."  Quistis smiled and opened her arms out to her, and without hesitation, the girls hugged.  "You've all been there, helping me out all the steps of the way.  Without you guys, I wouldn't be able to do anything to help Squall.."

Quistis broke the embrace and gave a nod to Rinoa.  "That's what friends are for."

Smiling brightly, Rinoa returned a nod and the two shared a moment of silence before the former instructor spoke out once again.  "So we'll go together with him the first thing when the sun rises.  You should get some sleep.  Good night, Rinoa."

"G'night, Quistis."

~~~~~~~

The night seemed endless.  There was no way she'd get the proper amount of sleep.  The girl basically watched the sun rise from the window next to her bed.  Most of the night, she tried to sleep, but all that she could get accomplished was the ability to close her eyes.  And when she became comfortable enough to fall asleep, there was a knock at the door.

"Mm?"  Rinoa sat up, barely able to keep her eyes open.  "Come in."

"Y-You sure?"  A reluctant Zell spoke from the other side.

Hearing him, she smiled.  "Sure, silly."

With that, the door slid open and Zell peeked his head in, smiling at her.  "'Sup, Rinoa?  You ready to go?"

"Boy, you guys don't kid around when you mean the first thing in the morning."  She chuckled and brought her legs to the side of the bed, stretching out her arms and legs before standing and turning to Zell.  "I'm ready when you are."

It was a good thirty-minute drive to the Lunar Gate from Esthar city.  Irvine, Selphie, Zell and Edea wanted to see Rinoa and Quistis off before they left.  If they had the chance to go, they would definitely take up the offer, but Edea needed a few by her side, just incase Sorceress Ultimecia decided to possess her again.

Once there, the same scientist that addressed Laguna was there, explaining the whole process to the two girls before they took up the offer completely.  Once finished, they were asked to board.

"You're in good hands, Matron.  Don't worry."  Quistis spoke, at the top of the stairs infront of the capsule.

"I know.  Please take care of Squall."  The older woman spoke out.

"We will."  Quistis smiled down at Rinoa before walking inside the capsule.  The door closed behind her and it traveled up, getting prepared to launch.

The others watched Rinoa as she walked up the stairs as another capsule appeared, opening the door for her to walk in.  She turned around and gave a small wave.  Selphie jumped up and threw her arms around to her.  Irvine smiled and took off his hat, placing it upon his chest while Zell threw a thumbs up.  Smiling to her friends, she turned towards the capsule, and entered it, letting the door close behind her as it traveled up, getting prepared to launch with Quistis' and Squall's.

And so, after the preparations were made, the three capsules were shot straight up into the air, making their way to the Lunar Base. To Ellone.

~~~~~~~

During the capsule transportation, Rinoa had a good chance to get some sort of sleep.  The scientist was right; it did make the trip seem shorter.

"Three capsules are approaching.  Shall we recover them?"

"Of course.  What do you expect?"  Laguna was securely dressed in a space suit, ready to go check on the seal Sorceress right outside the base.  He took a step closer to the two men at the controls.

"Are these special personnel coming aboard?"

"Yeah, I hope they don't cause any problems."  The President sighed deeply.

"Shall we put troops on standby?"

Laguna watched the screen as the capsules approached, squinting his eyes slightly at the sight of it.  "I have a feeling we won't need to."  He spoke out sincerely.

The first controller looked to the other, blinking cautiously.  "The we'd better station them all the more."

Laguna huffed and watched as the second controller pressed a button to give out commands.  "Capsule recovery team, initiate recovery process.  Security, go on standby."

The President turned around and put his hands on his hips.  "Thanks for the vote of confidence.  Why do you always play me like that?"  He took a few steps toward the door, about to leave.  "I'm gonna go check up on Adel.  Take care of the rest for me, will ya'?"

In union, the controllers spoke out.  "Yes sir."

After the whole process of getting aboard, a quick thaw was put into effect, and Rinoa and Quistis woke up.  They floated about the room, including Squall, until the gravity was placed in the room.  The girls gently landed on their feet while Squall landed on the ground, on his back.  Rinoa walked over to him, kneeling at his side while Quistis spoke to the man that appeared in the room.

Quistis offered a letter from Esthar's ambassador.  The man took it and read it, giving a nod to her.  "Welcome to the Lunar Base.  I'm Piet.  From this letter, I understand the situation.  We will bring the boy to the med lab."  Two men walked in the room behind him and over to Rinoa near Squall.  They bent down, picking Squall up and walked him over to the med lab, followed by Quistis Rinoa and Piet.

The med lab was a beautiful room, it had a glass floor that gave you a full view of the millions of stars scattered.  In the middle of the room was a bed, where Squall was placed to lie.  The girls walked up to his side as Piet stood behind them.  "He will be fine in here to rest."  How ironic… didn't he have enough rest?

"I've talked to my crew.  Everything will be all right.  Come to the control room."  With that, the man lead the way, and the girls followed.  They were lead into the control room, which seemed extremely busy.  From the large windows, there was a great view of the moon.  Quistis stepped forward.

"Look at how close we are to the moon!"  Her eyes lit up as she stared out the window.  One of the controllers turned around in his chair and spoke up.

"This is no time to be impressed. Look at the monitor over there."  He pointed to his left.

Quistis frowned slightly and looked over to Rinoa, signaling her over.  The two walked over to the monitor and watched the screen.  It looked as though a cluster of monsters, highlighted in red, were all gathered together and ready for anything.  Rinoa gasped and stood back from the monitor, placing a hand over her lips.  Quistis turned to the controller.   "Monsters…"

"The lunar world is a world of monsters.  Didn't you learn that in school?  As you can see, the monsters are gathering at one point.  History's about to repeat itself.  The Lunar Cry is starting."

Quistis turned to Rinoa, giving a nod.  "I'm going to go get Ellone now.  Why don't you go keep an eye on Squall?  I'll bring her to him as soon as possible."

The girl in light blue gave a nod in understanding, turning and walking out of the control room to head back to the med lab.

The former instructor turned to Piet, speaking out.  "Ellone's room is where?"

"Ellone's room is on the second floor.  You can go see her anytime."

~~~~~~~

Quistis walked up the stairs to the second floor, passing by a couple of scientists that were looking out the window.

"Look! That's the President going out to conduct the inspection personally."

"What you see out there is his work.  Incredible, isn't it?  He was responsible for containing Adel.  We've maintained a tight surveillance over her ever since."

Walking down the hall casually, the woman passed by a guard at the door of Ellone's room, letting the door slide open as she got near.  Ellone sat at the end of the room, sitting upon her given bed.  Her hands were on her lap and her green garnet lay at the curve over her elbows.  Hearing the door open, she stood, seeing it was Quistis.  "Quisty!"

Quistis jogged over with a smile on her lips.  But that smile soon faded before she spoke.  "Sis… it's Squall.  He's in a coma…"  She trailed off.

"So that's why…"  Ellone lowered her head a little and Quistis spoke up again.

"He's here, in the med lab.  Do you… think you could do something?"

"I'll try my very best."  Ellone looked back up to her, giving a determined nod.

~~~~~~~

Rinoa casually walked into the med lab, giving a small helpless smile over to the guard that was watching him and a wave.  He returned the wave and kept to himself, watching her a second as she walked over to Squall, once again kneeling at his side.

The girl sighed softly, raising a hand to push aside the hair that was over his closed eyes.  He lay there still sleeping as peaceful as a baby.  She was glad that they were finally within reach of Ellone… finally.  Hopefully her powers could help bring Squall back.

All of a sudden, Rinoa began to feel ill, weak.  Her eyes closed and she frowned deeply to try to open them again, but her efforts availed her nothing.  Her hands began to shake a good amount and her head dropped, she groaned out softly, sounding as if she were in pain.

Hearing this, the guard nearby looked over and sat up, watching the girl for a moment before speaking out first.  "Uh… miss?"

"U-Ugh…"  She groaned a little bit more, before letting out a yelp.  Right after yelping, Rinoa fell lifeless on whatever the bed Squall didn't consume to his side, that was in front of her.  Her face was hidden in the depths of her hair and her arms where her head rested.  

The guard, startled from this event, stood up and walked over to the girl in light blue.  "Miss? …Hyne, are you all right?"  He reached his hand out to place it on her shoulder, but was met with an electrical-like reaction to the meeting of her skin.  The guard gasped; about to take his hand away, but thanks to the reaction, his whole form was thrown back with an unbelievable force and into the nearest wall.  "AH!"

With that, Rinoa's head lifted up slowly, her hair in her face and an _evil_ look in her eyes that was definitely not her own.  They turned a slight amber color as she stood, letting the dark strands of her hair remain wherever it pleased.  She looked down at the boy who lay in front of her and smirked, spinning around so her back would face him.

_"You were of good use to me… now you are not needed any longer."_

The guard that was thrown upon the wall grunted, sitting up as best as he could so he could signal the alarm.  Something very wrong was happening to Rinoa.

~~~~~~~

_"You were of good use to me… now you are not needed any longer."_

…?!…

_In the depths of his _mind_, all he wanted to do was call out to her… the girl who appeared to him in his dreams, his memories to keep him stable._

_The girl who appeared at the Inauguration party before him as they both saw that beautiful, Fateful shooting star together with their own eyes._

_The girl who appeared in his room and encouraged him to get up and show her around Garden to get his mind off things._

_"Now, destined SeeD, you will sleep forever."_

_Various scenes flashed through his mind of what happened before falling into a coma.  The party, the missions, the voices, the silence, the sounds, the sights, and more importantly… her._

_The image in his mind flashed from Rinoa in his room, encouraging him to get up, to the sights he wasn't able to see as he was in a coma.  It was Rinoa observing and touching his face with a loving look upon her features.  He saw her face clearly… it had a hint of sadness but admiration as she looked to him.  He saw her touch his scar gently with her fingertips and slide her thumb over his eyelashes._

"Squall… come back to me…"

The image changed quickly to Rinoa sitting next to him on the infirmary bed and Irvine across the room.  She was looking down at him as Irvine spoke to her.

"So like… it's all right to admit that you have some sort of feelings for him."

"……hm?  Sorry, what was that?"

"Well, if you would stop staring at him for a minute, ya' would've heard—"

"I am _not_ staring at him!"

"Suuure. Whatever you say, darlin'."

"Are you finished?  What were you saying?"

"As I was sayin'… you're falling for him, aren't you?"

He could see her face.  She smiled and her cheeks reddened slightly.

All became white.  It was silent.  An image began to appear again.  Rinoa was kneeled by his side once again in the infirmary.

"..I need you, Squall…"

"I wasn't lying when I told you that you were the best looking guy at the party… but there was something about you that drew me closer.  I didn't just want to dance; I wanted to try to get closer to you… in a way.  It was a coincidence that we met again in Timber, wasn't it?  I guess Fate… wanted us to meet again.  We've been through so much together so far… had a few little arguments and touching moments, but… look at you now.  What am I supposed to do now that you're gone like this?"

"We're searching for Ellone… maybe she can help bring you back to us… to me.  In the meantime.. don't give up.  Hold on just a little longer… I know you will.  You're much stronger than I am."

He saw her fight the tears.

He couldn't take this any longer.

Yes, he was slowly being able to think once again, and all that was on his mind was her.

He kept hearing her voice as his name was being called in the background; she was calling out to him.

"Squall… come back to me…"

"Squall! Please Hyne, wake up!"

Rinoa…

"Squall!"

"Come on, get up. Let's go."

Rinoa!

~~~~~~~

In a flash, his grayish-blue eyes shot open and his torso quickly lifted up into a seated position.  "Rinoa!!"

Ellone and Quistis watched in amazement as Squall suddenly awoke from his coma, screaming out the girl's name.  He breathed heavily as he turned his head to look at the women.  The sound of the alarm was ringing throughout the whole Lunar Base.  Ellone sighed deeply and fell to her knees from her standing position, weak from her attempts and succession from waking him up.


	7. The feelings

Phew, finally updated again. Sorry for the wait, guys, but I lost my urge to continue. Well, here it is… chapter seven. Enjoy.

_The feelings._

He felt like he was asleep for years.

The sound of the loud, annoying, obnoxious alarm was the first thing that rang in his ears as soon as he woke up.  What a noise to wake up to.

Red flashing lights circled the room they were in, as if the noise was not enough warning.  He hated it.

Squall breathed heavily, staring at the fallen Ellone with those big grayish blue eyes of his.  Lost, confused, surprised and discombobulated.  Quistis read them as if the words were written on a piece of paper on his face.  It was taking him a while to realize where he was and what was happening.

The former instructor comforted her Sis, sliding her hand along her back to let her know they were there for her.  After several minutes of silence between the three, Quistis knew she had to be the one to say something now.  The other two were not able.  "Squall, you're—"  …Or maybe one was.

"Where is she?"  His deep, soothing voice cracked slightly from the lack of speaking in a week.  He interrupted her without even thinking.  Bluntly.  The commander knew she knew who he was talking about… she was not a fool.

Quistis gasped a second from his sudden interruption and stared up at him from her kneeled position next to Ellone.  Her crystal blue eyes turned wide a minute as Squall turned his gaze to her.  It was serious… _too serious_.  If looks could kill… the look he was giving to her would make her drop dead.  It made her stutter.

"Rin-… she… s-something's wrong with her--" As she hesitated to speak, Squall threw his legs to the side of the bed and stood, stumbling a bit forward.  He already knew that.  Groaning, he regained himself and turned to face Quistis again.

"Where did she go, Quistis? Which way?!"  He was getting demanding now, worrying more and more about Rinoa.  Everything annoyed him right now.  The alarm sirens, the red circling lights, the way Quistis was acting.  Everyone felt that way when they just woke up, right?

Quistis winced, frowning from his sudden outburst, and stood turning to face the demanding commander, leaving Ellone's aid.  To satisfy him, she just gave him the blunt answer.  "Out the doors and to your left down the hall.  Be careful… she's not herself."

Squall gave a nod to her and began to turn around for the door, but something stopped him--- Sis.  He turned around to look down at her again, noticing she was still kneeled and vulnerable.  A slight concerned look came across his features, but Quistis's voice stopped it from becoming a frown.  "Don't worry, I'll take care of her.  Go!"

That was all he needed.

The commander threw himself around and headed out the door.  He exited the small room to reach the hall, and began to jog down it, shaking his head quickly from left to right to wake up fully.  Noticing he was running off balance, his gloved hand reached out and pushed himself away from the wall he was getting close to, now going from jogging to running.  From the glass windows everywhere he went, he noticed that they were in space.  _(What're we doing here…?)_

Not really knowing where he was headed, Squall busted his way into the control room, looking from left to right to see if his eyes could pick up that familiar light blue.  As he looked, Piet and the few controllers that were in there turned their attention to him with looks of confusion upon their features.  An injured controller was upon the floor.  Piet approached him.  "Sir? Wow, you're awake—"

"Did a girl come in here?"

Recovering from the interruption, Piet blinked and stared at Squall.  "Uh… girl.. sir?"

Squall stopped looking around and turned to face Piet.  A look of impatience came across his face.  What was wrong with these people?  Was it so hard to answer such a simple question?  Like a lion leaping for it's prey, Squall went at Piet, grabbing his _pretty_ white jacket and pinned him against the wall behind him.  "Yes, girl!  Dark hair, dressed in light blue!"  He roared.  The controllers jumped up from their chairs and watched the scene before them.

Piet gasped and held his hands up.  "Yes, yes! She left several minutes ago! Something's wrong with her—she injured one of our men without touching him!"  Squall let him go, and stormed out of the control room, his boots clicking with every step.  Piet fixed his jacket and stared after him.  "I hope he can stop her… she undid one of Adel's seals in the middle of the Lunar Cry…Hyne help us all."

Since he's already been through the hall, Squall ran up the stairs, looking around frantically, seeing a few men on the floor like the man in the control room.  

_(Rinoa did this..?  She couldn't have…)_

Widening his eyes at his thoughts, Squall made his way into the room to his left, continuing to look around… until he saw her.  She was in a spacesuit.  He could see her face in the helmet of it.  Squall ran to the glass window, the only thing that separated them now.  He raised his left hand and threw it back as he yelled out her name.

"Rinoa!"  She had a blank gaze.  It was though she was looking right through him.  Squall's eyes widened as he stared at her.  Anyone that knew Rinoa would say that this was not herself if they saw her this way.  His eyes squinted as she began to turn around to exit into outer space.  "No, come back here! Rinoa!"  He ran to the door that would lead into the small area she was standing, but somehow managed to stop himself.  He needed a space suit.  _(Damnit!)_

After getting one on and making sure everything was secure, Squall bolted out like lightening into space to retrieve Rinoa and bring her back inside safely.  But it was too late… she was already a great distance away.

_(Why is this happening… why?  Rinoa, what's happening to you…?)_

He floated in space's zero gravity for a moment.  Lost, confused, longing for her…

He _felt_ this way all his life.

~~~~~~~

With the space suit still on, Squall jogged out of the room where Rinoa ran off so quickly.  He stopped and watching a scene before his eyes.

"It's much too dangerous now!  We must leave Lunar Base at once!"

"We have to evacuate!  Please hurry to the pod!"

It seems that two men in space suits were yelling at the man in the space suit in the middle of them.  It was obvious that he was of some importance…

Laguna growled and looked from one of his aide's to the other as they grabbed his arms.  He hated being ordered around, especially in panic situations.  "Forget about me, just go!"

One of the aides spoke out again, in a pleading manner.  "Please sir, we must hurry!"  The two men began to push the President Laguna down the hall so they could bring him to the pods.  And instead of firmly raising his voice for them to stop, Laguna did what he did best.

"Ahhh!"

Yell.

Now that the scene was over and the men were out of his way, Squall stepped out into the hall to make his way down the stairs. But before he could go any further, the crawling, important man blocked his path again.

"Hey, you!  Take care of Ellone!"  The space suit kept him from looking up at Squall, and it also kept Squall from seeing Laguna's face.  Irony had its ways, even in the worst situations.  "Ughhh!"  Once again, the poor president was dragged away, leaving Squall's path open again.  With that, he ran to the control room.

Stepping into the control room, Squall noticed the people in there looking out the window like an audience.  Ellone, standing again, was one of them as well as Quistis.  Piet and the controllers stood by the window with frightened looks on their faces.  With curiosity, Squall ran to the window and looked up as well.

It was Rinoa.  Softly and gracefully in zero gravity, she floated towards Adel's tomb.  As if she knew what she was doing, her hand reached up and punched in some things into the panel that secured the historic sorceress.  Steam was released from the seal, as well as gas, and a vibration emerged from the machine.

Adel's eyes began to glow red and a smile crept across her freakishly dark lips.  She was unsealed.  As if on cue, the monsters from the Lunar Cry swarmed behind the breaking seal, throwing Rinoa back with such a force to push her far away.

Squall couldn't stand seeing what was happening before his eyes.  No, not Adel being unsealed, not the Lunar Cry that was getting closer and closer by the minute… it was Rinoa getting further and further away by the _second_.  "Rinoa!!!"

Piet turned to them all in the room.  "Come on.  We have to evacuate!  Now!"  With that, he ran to the room in the back that lead to the pods.

Quistis threw her arms down.  "We can't leave Rinoa!  We have to do something…!"  She released a huff and ran after Piet, followed by the couple of controllers in the room.  Ellone turned to Squall, rushing over to him and placing her hands on his chest.  She looked up and to his eyes through the space helmet.  "Squall, you should be protecting Rinoa, not me.  You're the only thing on her mind right now.  She's calling you."  With that, she ran off to the pods followed by Squall.

As Squall ran after her, he spoke out.  "She's calling me?  What do you mean?"  They both entered the pod with Quistis and Piet.  Ellone got into one of the holding units, looking up to Squall who refused to at first.  "GOD!!!!!!  Rinoa is gonna die!  I can't take it.  Ellone, please.  I've never _felt_ this way in my _life_."

The three people watched in awe as Squall actually said something that he _felt_.  Ellone thought it over in a matter of seconds. "……."  The poor girl never dealt with anything in the present.  She always focused on events to change in the past.  But maybe Squall falling into a coma made her realize that the things happening now are more important than changing the past.  Why dwell on the past when what was happening presently would soon become the past, and once again unchangeable?  Ellone lowered her head.  It seemed as though time was running out for all of them.

Squall stared at her with those pleading grayish blue puppy dog eyes, breathing heavily through his nose.  "You said she's calling me… can you do something to get me to her?  Or somehow figure out what's happening to her?"

"I don't know her, Squall… but, ok.  It may not work, but we'll try, ok?"

Squall's eyes stared at his "sister" full of hope and trust.  Though he couldn't directly say the words, they've shown in his eyes.  The eyes of "thank you."

Piet, paranoid and direct, screamed out, interrupting the silent communication between Ellone and Squall.  "Come on!  We have to go now!"  With that, Squall blinked and threw himself into the last holding unit.  After doing so, their pod ejected from the Lunar Base, which was slowing being swarmed with the Lunar Cry.

~~~~~~~

All went white.

It felt as though he was being pulled around a world of complete whiteness.  It wasn't blinding, although it felt as if it were a dream.  He knew that feeling.  It was the feeling of Ellone at work.

Suddenly the force of the pull slowed to a stop, and the scene began to set in his mind.  The sound of a Galbadian army vehicle filled his ears as an echo at first, but soon became clear.  It drove up a desert road, seemingly away from the desert base that was a good distance behind it.  And then he heard her voice…

"Irvine, go back to the desert prison!"  It was the scene in her life where they were all captured in the desert prison after the Deling City Parade and the attempt to assassinate Sorceress Edea.

"No, it's your father's order.  I'm taking you back to Deling City."  There was a long silence between the two, until…

"Ouch!  Are you crazy?!"  Irvine yelped with pain.

"We have to go back and help everybody!"  As if in the shadows, Squall watched the scene before his eyes.  Rinoa got out of the vehicle, still rebelling against Irvine refusing to go back to the prison.  Rebelling… she was good at that, wasn't she?  Yes, she was the 'princess' of the only active rebel group in Timber, the Forest Owls.  What did that say about her, exactly?

Sure Timber was a small town, if any country would be able to take over it, it was definitely Galbadia.  And without any hesitation, they did take it over.  Why?  How could they?  Rinoa was an honest person; perhaps she saw the good in that small town and wouldn't let Galbadia bully them around.  She was a fighter; giving her strength to people she could trust to help her succeed in liberating Timber.

"Squall might say 'but no one has ordered me to escape', and end up staying in there."

…….

Was that really the way he was?  Surely he did what he was told, and was trained on discipline, but… that badly?  Of course the others wouldn't notice such a thing, because they were also trained like him.  But Rinoa was different.  She didn't live in an orphanage, grow up in a military school, and be trained every day like they all were.  She had the eyes for such things that they all could not notice in themselves.  Irvine, Selphie, Quistis, Zell…

"Ok, ok… I'll go, I'll go!"

All became white once again.

"Squall's ring?  I dunno where he bought it."

Zell.

The scene before him began to become clear once again, only this was different.  Zell and Rinoa stood, face to face, talking to each other.  From the surroundings, Squall recognized this as Balamb Garden, in the cafeteria.  From what he remembered, it had to be around the time before Galbadia and Balamb Garden fought, because Zell asked for his ring during the battle.

"I want the same one.  It looks really cool, doesn't it?"  Rinoa smiled sweetly after speaking, as always.  She was good at that.  But what was so special about his ring?  All right, he could admit that it was unique in a way.  He had the necklace, ring, and gunblade made personally for himself.  He always admired the powerful Guardian Force Griever.  A lion full of courage and bravery; everything he wanted to be.

"Alright, how 'bout I make you one?  I'm pretty good at that kinda stuff."

"Really!?  Sure, OK!!!"  Squall observed Rinoa as she showed her excitement over his ring.  Was it that she really wanted a ring like that or it was his?  He put his thoughts on hold, as he observed some more…

Zell chuckled at Rinoa's excitement, balling up his right fist; he held it up as he spoke out.  "Let's have Squall show us the real thing."

Rinoa's excitement escaped her as she put her hands behind her back, throwing her gaze to look at the tile floor of the garden.  "…We can't do that."

"Why not?"  Zell frowned, watching her.

"…It's embarrassing."  She kept her gaze lowered, sliding her left boot over the tiles below.

"Say what?"  The boy dropped his right hand, and a sudden thought hit his head.  Even Squall could see the light bulb turning on above his head.  Zell took a step back with his right foot, holding his arms out as if he were about to be attacked by her.  "Oh…"

As if she knew he was going to think such a thing, Rinoa objected immediately, raising her right hand and shaking it as well as her head.  "No!  It's not what you think!"  Soon after, a soft red came to her cheeks as she smiled a little, spinning around so that Zell could see her back instead of her flushed face.

And all became white again…

_(Where am I…?)_

The image began to become clear once again; this time it was somewhere different.  Although the whiteness seemed to remain when it should have gone away.  It all looked so familiar.  Someone was on the floor--- Seifer Almasy.  Squall's memory slowly began to return to him.  It was the scene right before he fell into a coma: In the Galbadian auditorium.  _(You're…)_

And on time, Rinoa approached Seifer… that was the last thing he saw.  This time he refused to take his eyes off the sight before him.  He saw something different this time… another figure flashing within her body.  Rinoa kneeled down to Seifer, looking as though she were kissing him, but from the words he heard this time, it definitely was not a smooch.  _(Rinoa...)_

"Oh, my loyal knight, Seifer.  The sorceress is alive… the sorceress demands."

_(Sorceress..?!  Is she possessed?!  This isn't Rinoa!!  Where's Rinoa!!!?)_

"Find the legendary Lunatic Pandora, said to be hidden beneath the ocean.  Only then shall the sorceress provide you with dreams again."

_(Rinoa!  Where are you?  Answer me!)_

Like a puppet, Seifer stands up, obeying his dear sorceress.  "As you wish, Ultimecia."

_(Ultimecia…)_

Keeping his eyes on Rinoa, he sees her head fall back as her hands are held up, helplessly being controlled by the obvious sorceress, Ultimecia.  She frowns with helplessness, slowly closing her eyes and slightly opening her mouth as her frown slowly fades.  And he hears her…

_"(…Squall…I'm scared.)"_  With that, her face peacefully shuts down, allowing a content look upon her features take over as she falls forward and onto Galbadia's tile floor.

_(Rinoa!!!)_

As if things couldn't get frightening enough, the form of this sorceress Ultimecia emits from Rinoa's body and floats over to Squall.

_"Who's there?!  Get out!"_

~~~~~~~

Squall shot out from the "connection" as his eyes flashed open, once again yelling out her name.  "Rinoa!"  They were all still in the pod, still on their journey home while Rinoa was floating out into the nothingness of space.

Hearing one of the holding units open, Squall saw the one on his left flip up, and Ellone fell to her knees.  As if anything could get worse, Squall threw his holding unit open, quickly kneeling by his Sis's side.  "Ellone?!"


	8. The rescue

_The rescue._

Squall frowned as he comforted his fallen Sis.  It seemed as though he was being selfish about using her to try to help Rinoa; but then again, _she_ was selfish about using the orphanage gang to try to change _her_ past.

A week has gone by as he was in a coma, but to him it felt like years.  Because Rinoa was there each day to watch over him, talk to him and just be there, she appeared in his mind and memory.  And to him, she's been there though those _years_.

The first time he laid eyes on her swept him off his feet.  Of course, being the way he was, he hid it quite well.  So used to letting people bounce off the barrier he placed around himself to prevent any more pain; she broke it.  He tried to stop her, but because of Rinoa and her persistent ways, it was broken.  Not only because of her persistent ways it was broken, but because of her eyes… her lips… her voice…

He was in love.

And he would do _anything_ to get her back.

"Did you get to find out what happened to Rinoa?"  The poor girl groaned, shivering under Squall's comforting hands.

Squall leaned back some, giving her some space to sit up.  "Yeah, but I couldn't do anything…. what should I do?"  Ellone leaned up from her knees and ran her hands through her hair.  She looked up to Squall, through that space suit helmet, and at his grayish-blue eyes.  It made her heart melt and tears almost came to her eyes.  That look…

"I remember those eyes."  Squall blinked a few times and stared at her as she spoke.  "You just looked at me with the same eyes you had when you were little," Ellone frowned helplessly as she managed to smile a little.  "Those curious, innocent, puppy dog eyes.  I loved those eyes."

He didn't want to burst her bubble, but he had to get this through her head or else she would live with it forever.  "That's in the past."

"That's right.  What's important is right now.  I finally realized that."

"I have to help Rinoa _now_.  That's the only thing I can do, right?"

"Yes.  Talk to her, Squall.  Your voice may not reach her, but your heart will."  Ellone held her hands out faced down towards the floor as a sincere look crossed her helpless-looking features.  She stared at Squall, as serious as could be, and gave a nod.  "Are you ready?  I'm taking you to the nearest past… to the closest present to the future…"

Squall stared right back at his Sis, an understanding frown forming in his eyes and eyebrows.  He watched as she closed her eyes and raised her head slightly, and slowly, he allowed the work of Ellone to take effect once again.  But instead of seeing white again, it was black.

~~~~~~~

The scene slowly opened up in his mind, showing the greatness and vastness of space with millions of stars scattered.  It was unbelievably quiet.  It scared him.  He could only imagine how Rinoa felt being alone out there all by herself—

She came into view at a slow pace within the space suit.  It was so painful to just sit and watch this happen for him.  He wanted to just grab her and pull her to him and then everything would be ok.  But obviously, that was impossible… or was it?

[Remaining Life Support System 15 seconds]

_"(Am I… gonna make it…?)"_

_"(How?)"_

_"(I can't do anything…)"_

_"(Drifting…endlessly.)"_

_"(I'm helpless…)"_

[Remaining Life Support 0]

_"(No…)"_

_"(I'm…)"_

_"(That's it.)"_

_"(I'm gonna…)"_

_"(I'm gonna… die.)"_

[Life Support Has Terminated]

_"(Good bye…)"_

_"(Squall…)"_

_(Rinoa!!! No!!!)_

_(Don't give up!!!)_

_"(…….?)"_

_(Can you hear me?!  It's Squall… Rinoa!!!)_

_(Rinoa!!!)_

Feeling as though her air is getting shorter, the helpless girl breathes heavier; trying to use up any air she can to hang on.  As she was trying to do this, her eyelids rebelled against staying open, and continuously tried to stay closed.  She blinked softly, with a look of hopelessness on her features, as if there was none for her.  She could've sworn she heard something… but it was probably her _mind_ playing cruel tricks on her.

_(Rinoa, come on!  Try to remember!)_

With shallower breaths from her lips, Rinoa's eyelids won their battle, remaining closed and refusing to open again.

_(Rinoa, I'm right here with you!  Listen to me!)_

As if all the life was drained from her body, she stopped moving all together.  Squall watched in agony, not knowing what to say anymore.  He stared at the peaceful and content look upon her features, not knowing what to do.  Was this really happening?  Was she really going to die?  He couldn't take watching her like this any longer.  He just woke up out of a coma, now he has to watch her die?  Just then, images of her flashed through his mind.

_(First time we met was the day I became a SeeD.  We met again… in Timber…)_

_(We had a lot of arguments at first.  But in time, things began to change.)_

_(You were looking at me… you smiled when our eyes met.)_

_(It made me feel calm, tranquil.)_

_(Rinoa… you have to hold onto hope.  That's what you always did.  You can't give up now…)_

_(I……. need you.)_

There was a slight rattling noise filling her ears, which very slowly, made her amazingly open her brown eyes.  There was a shadow of something hovering over her eyes, which made her squint slightly to try to see it better.

It was the shadow of Squall's infamous Griever ring along with hers.  And as if things couldn't get strange enough, he was facing her, looking into her eyes as if saying, "you better not give up".

Rinoa, through feeling sorrow, managed to smile as tears slowly formed in her eyes.  She was beginning to hope once again.  Reaching her hands up to her helmet, she wished she could feel Squall's steel ring at her fingertips once again as she closed her eyes; those hopeful tears escaping from her eyes and floating in zero gravity.

_"(I'm… still…)"_

_"(………alive?)"_

_"(Squall…?)"_

As if someone directed her hand where to go, she reached down in front of her space suit and applied pressure to a button that seemed to be there, just incase something like this were to happen.  From this, air begins to fill her helmet once again as she breathed out softly, a hopeful smile forming on her lips as her bangs moved to the air.

~~~~~~~

Those grayish-blue eyes shot open once again, seeing the ceiling of the escape pod as he lay upon the floor.  Ellone was at his side, but seeing that he woke up made her sit back as she watched him get up.

"I'm gonna go find Rinoa."

"You didn't need my help at all."

"Thanks, Sis."

With that, Squall turned around and reached for a lever that seemed to lead up and out of the escape pod.  He took hold, pressing a button on the side that began to take him up.  Quistis, who remained silent the whole time, decided it was time to object to this.  She released the hold of the holding unit upon her and stepped forward quickly, looking up after Squall.  "Wait!  Come back!"

Piet, remaining in his holding unit, looked up after Squall with Quistis, screaming at him.  "Idiot!  There's no way he can get back!  He's insane!  He's gonna run out of life support and fuel in no time.  They're both going to die."

Hearing this, Squall didn't care.  He spent his whole life in solitude and finally a beautiful woman comes into it and turns his life upside down.  He wasn't going to lose another person… not like this.  He'd rather die with her than without her.  Upon reaching the top of the tunnel, Squall looked to a panel and opened the door to the outer space to get Rinoa.

He looked around a bit, but soon the lightness of her space suit caught his eye.

_(I have to get in front of her…. And catch her…)_

Using the fuel in his space suit, Squall activated the boosters and drifted towards Rinoa, getting closer and closer by the second.  Finally, he had the chance to actually do so.

As he was five feet from her, her back was facing him. Noticing this, he opened his arms out to her and caught her as she sank into him.  As she did so, Squall couldn't help but close his eyes and adore having her this close to him, and held onto her closely and tightly as to never let go.

So surprised and happy, Rinoa closed her eyes as well, a relieved smile coming over her face as she breathed out.

"Squall… you're.. awake."

"Yeah……"

"Squall…… thank you.  I heard your voice."

"… I can't believe it."

"Are we gonna make it?"

"Don't worry."

Squall managed to release his tight hold upon her to turn her around so they could hold hands.  Rinoa looked through their helmets at his face, loving to see his eyes open once again.  He had a peaceful look in his big grayish blue eyes, but his mind was in a dilemma.

_(Out of fuel… low on oxygen…)_

_(What now?  Die in space?  I'm so helpless…)_

_(I can't even save Rinoa?  Come on, think!)_

They both looked around helplessly from left to right, until something red appears in the corners of their eyes besides the Lunar Cry.  A large red, dragon-looking spaceship floats near the moon's surface.  That would definitely help.

"Rinoa, hold on..."

Using the last of the fuel in his boosters, Squall carried himself and Rinoa towards the dragon-looking ship, grabbing hold of the side as it almost passes by.  With luck, the side he grabbed onto had a door a foot away from them, and opened, as they got closer.  Holding onto Rinoa, he helped her inside the strange ship, sinking to the floor as they entered.  The door above them closed and Squall took a look around at the panel that was close by.  A button flashed, alarming that there was air still useful in the ship.  Without hesitation, Squall pushed the button, feeling gravity sink down upon him as he watched it happen to Rinoa as well.  They were saved.

Squall reached up and disconnected the locks on his helmet, taking it off from his head as the air in the ship pushed his light brown hair about his face.  He kept his _eyes on_ Rinoa and she did the same with him.  As they removed the space suits from their bodies, their eyes were met with sincere looks upon their features.  Words were quiet between the two.

Squall stepped out of the small room into the hallway that seemed to be next door and Rinoa followed.  He stopped in the middle of the hallway and looked around.  Rinoa walked a little further into the hallway and turned around to look at him.  Noticing she was watching him, he looked up and at her eyes.  She smiled wholeheartedly and he almost melted to the floor.  He felt his cheeks heat up.

_(Wh…what?)_

"I'm so glad to see you awake.  You probably just woke up, and you came out here to save me?"

"………"  He opened his mouth slightly to say something, but he didn't know what.  His bottom lip almost quivered as his eyes stared at hers.

"Thank you, Squall… you rescued me again.  I can't thank you enough."

"… Don't worry about it.  I just did what I wanted to do."

Rinoa looked down at herself, adjusted her light blue duster, fixed the sleeves upon her arms, pushed her dark hair behind her shoulders and pushed the bangs from her eyes.  Squall stood there and frowned in wonder as she finally opened her arms out to him, a playful smile upon her dark pink lips.  Squall put his left gloved hand upon his hip and stared at her with a tilted head.  She spoke out softly.  "The space suit was in our way before."

_(Huh?)_

She pushed herself upon her tippy-toes a couple of times and tilted her head to the side as she kept her _eyes on him_.  "Give me a hug."  Once again, his cheeks heated.

_(…?)_

Rinoa bent in, wrapping her arms around herself and hugging tightly to show some sort of cute example.  "A real tight one!"  She once again opened up so her arms were out to him.  "I need to know that I'm alive!"

_(…Alive?)_

_(We still have to get back.)_

"We may be alive right now… but look at our situat—"  Before he knew it, she was hugging him with her arms wrapped around his torso and her head to his chest.  She smiled contently and peacefully closed her eyes, enjoying the moment before it would be ruined.  Her face was almost lost within his feathery jacket.

Squall stood there in shock as his eyes widened at her sudden action, looking down at the floor and seeing her head at the corner of his eye.  His heart raced, and she heard it through his chest.  If a solid could become a liquid in a matter of seconds, it would be Squall melting over this feeling.  He couldn't move at all.

After a moment, Rinoa slowly let go and took a step back to look up at him, speaking out the one word he couldn't finish for him.  "Situation."  She smiled brightly as she saw the surprised look on his face and let out her enchanting laughter, causing him to close his eyes and continue speaking as if she weren't laughing at all.  He raised his right hand and rubbed his temples lightly as he closed his eyes.  "You want to live, right?  You want to go back and see everyone, right?"

"And not become other people's memories?"

"That's right."

Rinoa gave a nod and kept her _eyes on him_.  After a moment, she spun around and walked towards the door that was behind her.  "Let's go, Squall."

With that, he followed her into the next hallway.  Hopefully, there would be a way to get home.

_______

**I** won't give up on you guys.  I'm thinking about whether I should make the monsters be in the ship or not.  I didn't really plan to have them fight in this story.  I know it's following the game almost exactly, but in the next chapter it will be different.  There's still a lot that I want to explain about this story, and a lot of things I did with Rinoa that she couldn't do when she was in a coma during the game.

Thank you reviewers for your kind words.  I really take your words into consideration and have the power to continue through them.  Any review is appreciated**.**


	9. The eyes

_The eyes._

Crystal blue _eyes_ stared up at the exit of the escape pod… where _he_ left.

It was amazing how he carelessly went out into space to save her.  He didn't care what would happen to him, didn't have a plan, and did not want to return home without her.  

Quistis admired that.

Sure she thought Squall had feelings for her of some sort… but that _deeply_?  Internally, she wished someone would feel the same way for her that Squall felt for Rinoa.

They were almost home now; the escape pod was getting closer and closer to Earth.  Quistis placed herself back in her holding unit along with Ellone.  Ellone… she remained silent as soon as Squall left.  He gave her a lot of things to think about.

Through all of the 'connections' she put the orphanage gang through, she hoped that they could change the past.  Why?  Because of Laguna.  Uncle Laguna accomplished a lot of things in his life.  And in a hilarious kind of way, most of it was done so he could get closer to Ellone when _she_ was kidnapped.  But there was this one thing he did not accomplish when he was all over the world: he did not remain by Raine's side when she gave birth to _his_ child.

In a way, Ellone felt as if it were her fault.  But other reasons convince her otherwise.  She was kidnapped.  Maybe that could have been helped, but no one saw it coming.  No one knew she was going to be taken away.

Much later on, in Edea's orphanage, Ellone found out that Laguna and Raine's son was one of the children within the complex.  Ironically enough, the boy became attached to her.  And that boy's name was Squall.

Not until recently has she decided she could use her powers to try to change the past.  As she grew up, she has yet to understand how to use her powers as well as she does presently.  Since she wanted Laguna to be with Raine and their child so much, that was what she wanted to accomplish.  And who else would be better to help her accomplish this _hope_ other than Laguna's son.

Perhaps Ellone figured Squall would get to know his father better each time she connected him to the past.  That was why Squall had the privilege to go to every 'connection'…

Ellone also thought about how much Squall was like his father.  Doing anything to get to hear Rinoa's voice as well as Laguna doing the same for Ellone.  But the relationship that Squall had with Rinoa was different than Ellone had with Laguna.  Their relationship was more father/daughter based while Squall and Rinoa's relationship was more to do with love.  The way that Squall left to go save Rinoa in space made Ellone wish that Laguna were like that with Raine.  If only…

Things happened like this for a reason.  And Ellone had the _eyes_ to see it all.

The escape pod shook violently as it entered the Earth's atmosphere as the three held onto their holding units for their dear lives.  Who knew where they would land?  From all that's happened at the Lunar Base, Ellone had a feeling something was going to happen to her when they landed… no matter where it was.

After several moments, the escape pod released its parachutes into the air as it made its way to southern Esthar.  Surprisingly, the pod crashed with such a force to the ground, causing Quistis to lose consciousness, and Ellone and Piet to have painful headaches.  A few moments passed and Piet released himself from his holding unit, standing up and checking on the two women.  Ellone released herself from her holding unit as well, seeing that Piet was ok, and looked over to see Quistis unconscious.  "Oh no, Quisty!"

Hearing Ellone, Piet walked over to Quistis with her and helped her out of the holding unit to lie upon the floor.  "She'll be alright, she was knocked out from the landing, probably."  Piet assured Ellone.

As they tended to Quistis, the pod door flew open and a few Galbadian soldiers ran inside, pointing guns towards them.  Ellone and Piet stood up straight and looked at them in confusion.  Piet spoke first.  "What the hell is going on here?"

"SILENCE!"

Just then, a duo that anyone could recognize walked within in the pod, making the Galbadian soldiers step aside from their presence.  The bulky dark-skinned man put his fists on his hips and gave a nod towards Ellone with respect.  "Alright, Ellone, ya gotta come with us.  Seifer's orders, ya know?"

"CAPTURE."  Fujin ordered the soldiers, and they obeyed her as two walked over to her and took her by the arms.  Ellone had no desire to object, for she knew this would happen.  As far as she knew, she wouldn't be hurt.  Everyone needed her for her powers.

Ellone was lead out of the pod, now in control of Galbadia.  Piet watched as the mob left the scene, looking to Ellone.  She turned her head around and gave a nod like it was all right.  Everything will be all right.

~~~~~~~

Her _eyes_ were on him.

Every little move he made, she observed.  When he was in a coma, she wished to see him full of life once again.  And now that he was, she did not want to miss any of it.  It felt so good just to see him like that again.

His face expressions were so animated.  When he thought, he squinted his eyes and frowned slightly.  As he spoke, his words were just as smooth as his voice.  And when he looked at her, she wanted to comfort him; longing and lost were the looks her gave her every time.

Once again, she observed how he handled things.  The door at the other end of the hall they walked out to was tightly sealed shut.  "I guess it can be unlocked on the other side.  We have to find a way to get there."  Squall turned around and looked at her.  It seemed as though she was lost in thought, and that was a rare thing for Rinoa.

"…... Something wrong?"  And it was a rare thing for him to ask such a question to _anyone_.

She looked up at him from her thoughts and shook her head, holding up her right hand.  "No-no, I'm fine…"  She lied… for now.  Something was bothering her dearly, but now was not the time to say anything about it; or talk about it, for that matter.  They were lost in space and needed to see if they could get home before she would say anything.

Squall sensed her uneasiness and let it go.  If she didn't want to talk right now, he understood why.

The commander headed to his right and down the stairs of the glorious ship, and of course, Rinoa followed close behind.  They both knew that they had to get to the control room of the ship.  Obviously no one was around to fly them home and they had to do it themselves.

A matter of time passed when they looked into all of the rooms.  No signs of a control room anywhere, although they managed to get on the other side of that locked door and release its tight seal.  Just then, Squall turned around and noticed a lift behind them.  Since they didn't check into that yet, Rinoa stood on the lift followed by Squall, and it rose up into another room.  Finally: the control room.

As the lift stopped, large windows that showed millions of the stars scattered mostly surrounded the room.  Rinoa, loving such a sight, jogged off the lift and opened her arms out, excitedly exclaiming… "Wow!"  Squall stood there and watched her a moment, before stepping off the lift and crossing his arms, turning his head to the left.

_(I have to… fly this thing?)_

The panel near one of the seat near Rinoa begins to beep.  She blinks in surprise and turns to face it, looking down upon it before turning her gaze back up to Squall.  "Squall, it's trying to talk."

Snapping out of his thoughts, he looks up and over to Rinoa, dropping his arms, and jogs his way over, looking down over it.

_(Volume?)_

_"This is Esthar Airstation."_

_(It's…)_

_"Ragnarok, do you read?  Ragnarok, do you read?!"_

_(… a radio signal.)_

_"This is Airstation.  Do you copy?"_

Excitedly, Rinoa puts her hands together and releases a giggle from her lips, smiling brightly.  After doing so, she once again feels the need to hug Squall again.  Rushing forward, she hugs onto Squall's back for a few seconds, causing him to look over his shoulder in surprise.  After she let go, Squall's heart slowly began to beat again as he attended to the matter at hand, looking back down at the panel.

"This ship is the Ragnarok?"

Rinoa stepped back and listened to what was being said, keeping quiet and letting her left hand take hold of her right arm in her normal stance.

_"Whoa!  Is this really the Ragnarok?  You're in space, right?"_

"Yeah, but I have no idea where we are."

_"Roger that!  We can track you from here."_

_(We can go home…?)_

_"Ragnarok, it's been seventeen years!"_

Annoyed by the excitement from the man, Squall tried to keep his frustration down.  The man apparently thought that Squall knew what the hell he was doing.

"Can we make it back?"

"Leave it to us!  You should have enough fuel.  Enter your location into the atmospheric reentry program and you'll be ok.  Once you enter the atmosphere, we can guide you down.  You'll be just fine."

Once again, Rinoa witnessed the trained perfectionist at work.

"How do I enter the data?"

Her hand slid down her arm as she saw Squall listen to every instruction that the man on the other end was telling him.  He took a seat at one of the seats of the ship, listening and typing in the data that was received.  If Rinoa were here alone, she'd probably be so confused.  But the way he did things never ceased to amaze her.  He was perfect in whatever he did.  She admired that so much.

"Entered."  He sighed, hoping this would be the last of the instructions.

_"No errors?"_

"It's fine."

"Next, I'm sure you're ok, but there's something I need you to do.  Turn off the gravity generator.  This should save some fuel.  Use the same touch panel to turn it off."

"Alright."  Squall leaned forward and looked down at the panel, pressing the obvious button for the gravity generator switch.  "Done."

"Congratulations.  You're home free, Ragnarok.  And… there's one more thing we need to tell you.  From all of us at Ground Control, we wish you Godspeed."

"Thanks."

Now that all of the complications were over and done with, Squall turned around and looked at Rinoa from the seat.  No way in hell did he forget about her.  Her eyes looked over at him, seeing he was making a signal for her to come and sit down next to him.  Giving a nod, she smiled softly and stepped forward to walk to the seat, but from the gravity release, she began to float in the air.  "Hey?!"

Laughing, the girl brought her legs to her chest and hugged them as she did a forward spin in the air.  Who wouldn't want to fool around in zero gravity?

Figuring she didn't know how to get to her seat from the lack of gravity, Squall stood from his seat and turned to her, pushing himself towards her and opened his arms.  As he did so, Rinoa watched him with a small playful smirk on her lips, remaining where she was to see what he would do.

Upon getting closer to her, he took her in his arms as his boots fell to the ground, and turned back around, carrying her closer to the seats.  When they were close enough, Squall let her go and sank back down into his seat, reaching over to the side and buckling himself in.  "Go sit over there.  Put your seatbelt on."

Rinoa watched him get back in his seat, smiling to herself after what he said.  This wasn't exactly a bumpy ride, was it?  Totally ignoring what he requested of her, she flew up and over his chair, and with the help of the ceiling of the control room, she sank down onto his lap.  Squall, from his forward stare, noticed movement above him and looked up, seeing her sinking down and opened his arms as she landed on his lap.  Slightly surprised and confused, he tried to stop himself from blushing this time… and it actually did work.

He looked at her this close to him, and she looked right back at him and into his eyes.  She was so beautiful to him, and seeing her this close made him nervous.  "Now go sit down."

"Just a little longer."  She spoke out softly, getting a little more comfortable on his lap and taking her eyes away from his for the moment.  The back of her right palm was to his chest as her left hand rested on his right shoulder.  She felt Squall's left hand supporting her back so she wouldn't float away.  It made her feel welcome with him for once, being this close.

He watched her a moment, before letting his curiosity take the best of him.  He raised his right-gloved hand and placed it on her left arm as he spoke out softly.  "Why are you holding on to me like this?"

Once again, Rinoa fixed her gaze upon his handsome face, giving a small smile.  "You don't like this, Squall?"

Like it?  He loved it.  This feeling of comfort and love… he hasn't felt this for a long time; ever since Ellone left.  He answered honestly.  "Just not used to it."

"How about when you were little?  Didn't you feel safe and secure being held by your parents?"  Her smile slowly faded as an understanding expression crossed her features in a content way, making Squall a little more comfortable to answer her questions.  He never told anyone about what he was going to say to her.  "I can't remember anything about my parents…"  He turned his face to look her in the eyes again.  "But… Ellone was there for me.  Ellone was there to hold my hand."

Glad he was actually telling her all of this Rinoa smoothly continued without showing any signs of excitement.  "Made you feel safe and secure?"

"Sure.  But she left.  Just disappeared."  He looked down and away from those eyes of hers.  He didn't know where this came from, but perhaps his feelings made him want to say it.  "I'm afraid… afraid of having that feeling of comfort taken away."

Rinoa opened her mouth slightly, taking this all in.  It was all beginning to make sense now.  She frowned lightly, but full of understanding, leaning her head back some to speak some more.  "You were afraid of losing us?  Is that why you kept your distance?"

She hit it right on the spot.  It was as if all of his past intentions were written on a piece of paper and shown to her in his eyes.  She could read him… he admired that.  "I was always alone…"

"Squall…"

She closed her eyes and leaned in closer to his face, giving an embrace full of comfort and welcoming.  Squall allowed this, staring forward and taking this in the best way he could.  It felt wonderful to have her so close.  Rinoa frowned slightly as she spoke; finally getting the answers she had so many questions for about him.  "You missed out on all the good things in life."  She released the embrace slowly.  "You've missed out on so much."

"…Maybe."

"Definitely."  She gave a nod to her word and turned her head to look out the window in front of them.  "I like it like this.  I liked having my mom hold me.  My dad, too, back when we got along."

"I'm not your mom."

"No, of course not."  She chuckled a little.  "But now… Squall, you're the one who gives me the most comfort.  Comfort and happiness… and annoyance and disappointment, too!"  She kicked her legs lightly as she spoke her last few words.  A moment of silence came upon them until…

"… Whatever."  They both spoke out.  Squall looked at her and gave a fake annoyed expression, causing Rinoa to giggle a bit.  She knew he was going to say that.

Shrugging slightly, he looked back over to her and at her eyes… "You should get back to your seat now."

"Just a little longer."  Once again, Rinoa pulled Squall into that comforting embrace, trying to forget all the worries she had on her mind.  And yes, she had plenty now… "We're gonna make it home, right?"

Squall closed his eyes a moment, his heart racing from such closeness with her.  "We can only hope."

"When we get back… we won't be able to stay together, huh?"

"… Maybe.  No one can predict the future, there are no guarantees."  He looked up and towards her angelic face once again.  "Those were your words… Rinoa."

She lowered her head a little, blinking lightly.  "That's not what I meant."  She began to frown a little, letting the worries return to her.  She had to let him know what was bothering her now or he might never hear her again.

"We'll figure out what to do once we get back."  She loosened her grip upon him, sliding herself off of his lap as she floated over to her seat, finally.  Squall already missed her warmth.  He turned his head to look at her as she placed her hands upon her knees and stared forward.  "They'll all be angry at me."

"Angry?"  He frowned as he kept his eyes on her.

"This is Airstation.  Ragnarok, please respond."

Huffing lightly, Squall looked to the panel in front of him and spoke out to it.  "This is the Ragnarok."

"We have some questions for you.  We're collecting escape pods."  As the man spoke, Squall looked over to Rinoa who was looking to her left, away from him.  He didn't want to hear this right now; all he wanted to hear was her.  He looked at how her hair rested upon her shoulders.  Hyne, even when she wasn't looking directly at him, she was beautiful.  "I hear no one from Lunar Base is on the Ragnarok.  How many of you are there?"  Just then, Squall snapped out of it, and looked to the panel again.  "Just two."

"….. Your names?"

"Squall.  I'm a SeeD from Balamb Garden."

"And the other?"

"… Rinoa."  He leaned back in his chair.

"Rinoa?  The sorceress?!  She's on the ship?!"

(So… It's true?  Rinoa is a sorceress?)  He turned his head to look back over at her, which she was now facing forward.  She turned her head to look at him as well, an upset expression crossing her features.  She raised her right hand to her collarbone as she spoke.  "I've… become a sorceress.  I can't stay with you anymore, Squall."

"Respond, Ragnarok!"

"I don't want the future.  I want the present to stand still.  I just want to stay here with you…"  A sad expression formed in her eyes and eyebrows, he got lost in her eyes and saw how honest she was about what she spoke.

(Rinoa…)  Squall frowned, staring at her, not knowing what to say.  He was never good at that.

"Respond, Ragnarok!"

"Nobody would want to be around me anymore…"  She frowned, looking down at the floor.

"The sorceress will be seized upon arrival.  Be sure to follow the crews instructions."

"I'm… scared."  Her mouth opened slightly as she brought her legs to her chest, her frown grew deeper as she began to quiver, resting her head upon her knees.

"Squall, do you copy?  Is the sorceress listening, too?"  That was it.  Squall took his eyes off her for a second to lean forward and slam the panel off with his knuckles, silencing the transmission.

"I'm scared, Squall."

Things were happening too quickly.  He hated it.  She was about to cry and he couldn't take that.  Leaning back, he unlocked his seatbelt and stood, and within a second, he was kneeled by her side.  Rinoa managed to lift her head from her knees to turn her head to look at him with tears in her eyes.  With a concerned expression crossing his features, he gently took her hand and kissed the back of it, his eyes never leaving hers as he frowned sadly.  Right after he did such an action, he wrapped his arms around her as she leaned against him for comfort.  And before sobbing quietly, she managed to speak out.  "I don't wanna go back."

Squall closed his eyes tightly as he held onto her like this.  After a moment, he managed to open them and look up and to his right out the window, and to that glorious moon that was right before his eyes.  He stared at it blankly as he felt Rinoa cry upon him… perhaps searching for an answer like she did only a week ago when he was in a coma.

Squall never felt this way about anyone in his life.  She meant everything to him now.  Unlike how Ellone made him feel, he felt so powerful just because he cared for Rinoa.  She was his strength.

Esthar would be waiting for them when they landed.  (I'll kill them all.)  Squall frowned up at the moon.  Maybe that wouldn't be such a good idea.  What if he couldn't do anything to stop them?  There had to be a way, and he would figure it out.

Several minutes passed and Rinoa slowly began to calm down.  Noticing this, Squall looked away from the moon and down at her.  Her eyes were closed and she sniffled, curled up in a vulnerable little ball.  Hesitating a bit, he raised his right gloved-hand and pushed the hair from her face, some wet from her tears.  Feeling this, Rinoa's eyes fluttered open as she turned her head to look up at him.  He didn't take his eyes off her.

She sat up some, leaning back against the chair, keeping her eyes on him as well.  Seeing a few tears under her eyes, Squall slid his gloved finger under them, letting them absorb into it, taking them away immediately.  Resting her hands upon his arms, Rinoa sighed and closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath.  Squall watched her and remained silent, noticing that she wanted to say something…

"She tried to kill you, Squall… that's why you were in a coma."

"…… What?"

Rinoa's wet lashes parted again as her eyes fell upon his surprised expression.  She continued.  "Ultimecia… the sorceress that possessed me to release Adel… she put you in a coma as a plan."  She stared into his eyes.  "I fell into a coma with you after we defeated Edea… but I woke up after a couple of days.  That was when she was hiding inside of me… I didn't know this until just recently, when I was possessed.  Somehow, she knows you're the destined SeeD to destroy her…. so she tried to destroy you after using you to get to space; therefore using me to release Adel since she was hiding inside of me as I was in space with you…"

Squall's grayish-blue eyes widened as he stared at his love, his mouth opening slightly, digesting such information.  He remembered, in his coma state, those words…

____

"You were of good use to me… now you are not needed any longer."

"Now, destined SeeD, you will sleep forever."

____

Rage filled the commander as he squeezed his jaw tightly, closing his eyes and clenching his fists.  Ultimecia was using the both of them as puppets for her evil plan.  Regaining himself, he opened his eyes to see Rinoa frowning sadly as she looked at him.  Squall spoke out soft, trying not to lose his composure.  "So Matron was being possessed, too…"  Rinoa gave a nod to answer his question.

"Then why am I still alive?"  His frown slowly faded, as he got lost in her eyes full of sorrow.

"As soon as she possessed me, I knew her plan… and all of her intentions.  But the one that I couldn't let her accomplish was the plan to kill you…"

"… You stopped her."  Squall stared at her sincerely, not knowing what to say after that, and not knowing what to do but stare at her eyes.

"I tried my best to make her think about her other intentions… just to make her forget about killing you.  When I felt as though I was winning the battle, I think that's when Ellone and Quistis came into the room and made her leave…"  Rinoa dropped her head and closed her eyes, a deep frown coming over her features again as she raised her right hand and placed it upon his shoulder, making her hand disappear within the feathers of his jacket.  "I couldn't let her kill you, Squall… I was so worried.. I couldn't let her take you away from me forever…"  She began to weep again uncontrollably.

Squall watched her a few seconds before standing up and floating over to the gravity generator, pushing the button for it to go back on.  Since they were so close to home now, what difference would it make?  As the gravity took its time to come back on, Squall floated back over to Rinoa, leaning over and picking her up in his arms as she continued to cry.  As his boots sank to the floor again, Squall walked the both of them out of the area with the chairs and placed Rinoa on the floor, and right after doing so, he sat down right next to her.

Running his gloved hands through her hair to get out of her face, he comforted her as she cried, hugging her close and closing his eyes, feeling her sniffle against him.  She saved his life in so many ways… what he did for her could never compare.  Rinoa was right.  He didn't want the future either.  Just being with her like this would make him the happiest person in the world, even if he didn't know how to show it correctly.

Cuddling against him, her cries subsided and she left her eyes closed, hearing the soothing sound of his heart beating; not only keeping him alive, but her alive as well.

And there they remained for now; embracing each other and hoping that the present would be kind enough to slow down a little so they could stay like this longer.  If only…….


	10. The oath

I'm falling even more in love with you  
Letting go of all I've held onto  
I'm standing here until you make me move  
I'm hanging by a moment here with you  
  
I'm living for the only thing I know  
I'm running and not quite sure where to go  
And I don't know what I'm diving into  
Just hanging by a moment here with you  
  
There's nothing else to lose  
There's nothing else to find  
There's nothing in the world

That can change my mind  
There is nothing else

~Lifehouse, Hanging by a Moment

The oath 

A soft groan emitted from the lips of the golden-haired woman as she frowned, reaching a hand up to place onto her forehead.  Crystal blue eyes opened once again to look out the window of the Esthar rescue vehicle.  Quistis stared at the ground outside as it moved fast from the speed of the car.  Her mind couldn't stop racing at the thought of Squall and Rinoa.  Were they all right?  She still couldn't believe the fact that he actually did an action like that… for _her_.

Shaking her head lightly, Quistis looked about the inside of the car, seeing Piet.  It was just him and her that were in the pod when she came to.  Her thoughts then traveled to Ellone.  She wasn't with them, so what happened to her?  The former instructor wasn't going to try to ask Piet, he seemed like he didn't want to be bothered.  A lot has happened.

Her mind didn't stop wandering until they arrived at the Lunar Gate.  The crystal blue eyes of Quistis almost sparkled when she saw her friends there waiting for them to arrive.  Smiling, her hand lowered from her forehead as the car came to a stop in front of the gang.  The door slid open vertically and Quistis stepped out along with the rest of the people she traveled with.  As soon as she did so, she was greeted from her friends.

"Yo, instructor!"  Zell threw his right fist into his left hand, giving a powerful nod towards her as Selphie and Irvine walked closer to her.

Selphie looked inside the car Quistis came out of and stood up straight afterwards, looking over to her.  "Heeey, where're Squall and Rinoa?!"

"And Ellone?"  Irvine adjusted his hat as Zell walked closer with a look of curiosity as well.  The three oblivious to what was going on stared at Quistis for some answers.  All the former instructor could say at the moment was…

"I don't know…"  She looked down, crossing her arms over her chest.  "But we did get Squall to Ellone and she did wake him up.  Something happened to Rinoa when we were in space… it was as if she were being possessed.  She released Adel's seal and was drifting off into space… Squall went after her… so I don't know their condition right now."

"Goodness gracious…"  Selphie brought her hand to her mouth, frowning from worry of her friends.  "Squall really went out into space to get her? So that basically means… they're still floating around up there or… they're dead!"

"C'mon! They can't be dead, Selphie!  This is _Squall_ we're talking about here, they just can't be!"  Zell burst out, stomping his right foot to the ground, fists tight as well as his arms by his sides.

Irvine kept quiet for a moment until silence came over the three of his friends, and spoke out, taking this all in calmly.  "An' what of Ellone?"  He removed his hat for once, scratching the back of his head.

"She was with us in the escape pod, but when we landed, I was unconscious.  When I woke up, she was gone.  It was just Piet and I."  Quistis looked up once again, letting her arms fall to her sides.  "So I don't know where she is either."

"Damnit!"  Zell yelled, opening his arms and hands.  "What're we supposed to do?!  Ellone is missing; Squall and Rinoa are still in space… Hyne knows what happened to them, and we're sitting ducks here!!"

As if on cue after Zell's words, a few Esthar soldiers ran out of the Lunar Gate station, yelling out to each other.

"Did you hear that?!  The sorceress is on the famous Ragnarok with a SeeD and it's about to land south of here!"

"Yeah!  She probably has him hostage!  Who knows what she'll do next, she already released Adel's seal… oh man, this is scary."

"But you heard the boss, we have to seize her as soon as they land and take her to the Sorceress Memorial.  She won't get away, we'll all have her surrounded."

The orphanage gang exchanged surprised glances.  Quistis's eyes widened as she watched the soldiers run by.  "Released Adel… that was Rinoa!  I saw her with my own eyes!"

"And that SeeD?!  It has to be Squall!"  Selphie yelled, jumping up and throwing her arms about in the air.

Irvine put his hat back on, looking around as quick as he could until he spotted a free car parked on the side.  "We have to get to them before Esthar does.  They'll need all the help they can get.  Come on, this way!"  With that, Irvine ran for the car he was eyeing, followed by the others.  Perhaps he finally learned the guts to go save his friends without a girl in light blue scratching him to do so.  "Zell, you drive!  Your recklessness is what we need right a'bout now."

"OH YEAH!!!  You got it!"  With a mischievous grin, Zell jumped in the drivers seat as the others got in the car quickly.  He flicked a few switches and started up the vehicle, backing it up out of the parking lot.

Irvine sat on the passenger's side, leaned on his right side a bit, unclipping something from the back of the belt of his pants.  He smirked and laid the long silver instrument upon his lap, looking down at it with amazed eyes.  Sliding his hand across the smoothness and the design, he looked up and forward out the window.

"Time to boogie."

~~~~~~~

It has been an hour.

The duo was still rested on the floor of the Ragnarok.

Rinoas eyes remained closed, dry tears made a path down her cheeks.  Her right cheek rested upon the front of Squall's left shoulder and her knees were bent, over his upper legs that supported him upon the floor.  His left arm was supporting her back, holding her close to be comfortable in her position with him.  The back of Rinoas right hand was resting under her chin as her arms were bent, and the other rested on her lap.  Squall's free hand lay at his side for the moment, feeling useless.

Those big grayish-blue eyes of his stared forward, his mind racing and fast as his heart.  They would be home soon, and he knew it.  Options continued to come to mind, but the one he agreed to the most was the option to protect her and keep Esthar away… maybe run away, when they arrived.  Why seize Rinoa?  Sure she freed Adel but Edea, when possessed, spoke to a crowd of thousands of people in Deling telling them that she would kill them all.  How come Esthar didn't try to seal _her_?

Squall frowned as he stared forward, his eyebrows downcast near his soft-squinting eyes.  That was his decision… his _oath_ to her.  He wouldn't let Esthar get their hands on her.  No way in hell.

Lowering his head slightly, he felt Rinoa breathe upon him from her stomach going in and out, the unique routine for survival of a human being.  Yes, she still was human to him.  She would always be.

Squall turned his head to his left and down gently to look at her as her head rested upon his shoulder.  She was facing him with content closed eyes and a peaceful, angelic look upon her face.  He stared at her every detail.  How round and perfectly shaped her eyebrows would look above her closed eyes, thick in the middle but smoothed to pencil thin as they ended; how her closed eyes would look just as beautiful as open because of her long, dark lashes concealing the attachments of her eyelids, giving off a beautiful view; how her nose seemed to form from the middle of both of her eyebrows, sliding down in a perfect slope between those closed brown eyes to stop in the middle of her smooth pale cheeks; and how those lips had an image of their own, giving off a unique dark pink glow, having delicious-looking creases that provoked him to touch with his own.

Keeping his eyes on her with a sincere look coming over his own features, Squall's free hand raised, wrapping around her slightly to get to his other hand.  With the help of his left hand, he slipped the glove off his right, exposing it.  With that, his bare hand traveled closer to Rinoas face, sliding his fingers gently over her left cheek as her other leaned against his shoulder.  Softly, his fingers traveled over her forehead, eyebrows, and eyelashes, down the side of her nose, cautiously stopping over her lips.  But they slowly left her lips as her eyes began to open softly.

Rinoa's opening brown eyes met Squall's sincere expression, his eyes staring right back into hers.  She blinked gently, leaving her gaze focused on his.  Their faces were only several inches apart… so close, yet so far away.

They remained like this a few moments, staring into each other's eyes.  It seemed like each moment was full of an eternity, going by so slow.  But that's what they wanted, wasn't it?

Rinoa sat up some, giving Squall's supporting arm a break from her back.  She looked around a bit, seeing outside the window, noticing they were still in space.  Squall watched her every move.  After looking around, her eyes met his again.  They both blinked softly, getting lost inside of each other.  A moment went by and Rinoa, after all that she has been through, managed to smile softly at him.  She slowly withdrew her legs that rested over him and place her feet on the floor, pushing herself to stand.  Squall watched her stand and turn around to face him, holding out her hands to help him up.  He took her hands and stood up with her, almost blushing from the fact that his free hand's glove was off.

Without saying a word for now, Rinoa turned towards the window and looked out to the moon that was getting slightly smaller by the second.  Squall watched her, putting his glove back on his hand, and walked to stand next to her, looking out at it as well.

"Finally…"  She spoke out softly, releasing a gentle sigh.

"…….?"  Squall looked over at her questioningly.

Rinoa smiled a little, keeping her eyes on that moon.  She knew he was looking at her, so she continued.  "I wanted to watch the moon with you… every night I wished you'd be able to see it again… with me."

"……."  Squall stared at her for a few more moments before turning his gaze back at the moon.  Rinoa turned her head to look at him, her smile slowly fading into a sincere expression forming on her face.

"I was really scared when you were in a coma… I thought you would never wake up.  I… stayed by your side every day, hoping those eyes would open again…"

Squall turned his head to look at her looking at him.  Their eyes never stopped ceasing to meet.  The expression on his face became soft, caring… as thoughts began to run through his head.

(That's right… she was there with me… every day.  I saw it.)

Rinoas brown eyes traveled about his face, seeing that soft expression form on his handsome features.  Her lips opened slightly as she observed him, loving to see that he was awake and able to look back at her.

(How could someone… she…)

Squalls grayish-blue eyes looked to her lips, slowing lifting again to look into her eyes.

(…care so much about me?)

Not noticing or having control of himself anymore, Squall slowly began to move closer to Rinoa, never taking his eyes from hers.

(So full of life……. and love…)

Rinoas heart began to beat fast, noticing he was getting closer to her face.  As if some unidentified force caught hold of her, she felt herself slowly move closer to him as well.

"Rinoa….."

The few inches their lips were apart slowly reduced, and as they were about to touch as the two closed their eyes, a rude awakening of a siren going off inside the ship startled them both.  The two withdrew quickly, looking to the flashing red button on the control panel only a few feet in front of them.  Squall threw himself down on the seat he sat before and looked it over.  "We're about to enter the earth's atmosphere, sit down and put your seatbelt on."

Rinoa nodded once, obeying his command, and took the seat next to him putting her seatbelt on.  As Squall placed his around his waist, he looked over at her, the realization hitting his mind like a gunshot.  He almost kissed her.

The girl looked to her right and over at him.  A sad frown formed on her features, and he saw it.  He knew why she was getting upset.  They were about to land, and no one knew what was going to happen next.

As the Ragnarok entered the earth's atmosphere, a violent vibration took over the whole ship.  Squall and Rinoa held onto their seats tightly, bracing themselves for the landing.  But surprisingly, the landing was soft, unlike the landing in the escape pods.

Thanks to Esthar's technological advancements, they knew exactly where they were going to land.  Esthar soldiers and sorceress researchers watched as the legendary ship landed before their eyes thirty feet away.  Upon seeing it land, they made their way closer.

Squall unbuckled his seatbelt, standing up quickly as that determined frown appeared on his features, staring out the window.  He leaned on the control panels as he watched as the Estharians got closer, his mind racing.  This was it.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard her…

"Squall…."

The commander looked over to his love, seeing that she was standing as well.  Rinoa looked down at the floor of the ship, raising her left hand to her necklace, touching it with her fingertips, speaking out softly.  "Thank you… for everything.  But I have to go.  I have to do this."  She raised her head to look up at him, lowering her hand from her necklace once again.  Sadness was filled in her eyes, and he could see it.  "But I'm glad… I'm so happy you're awake and all right.  Just knowing that… I can continue to live."

Squall took a hesitant step towards her, stopping in the middle of it.  He stared into her eyes, not knowing what to say.

(Rinoa….)

The girl in light blue turned, looking out the window with sad brown eyes at the Esthar crew waiting for her.  Soldiers, researchers, the works.  Rinoa was determined and ready to give herself over to them, feeling it was the right thing to do.  She was a dangerous person—_sorceress_ now.  Anything could happen if she were free.  She believed that.

On the other hand, Squall did not believe that.

"I.. should go now, Squall.  They might get suspicious outside….."

Turning his head to face the lift that would lead them out of the ship, that determined frown appeared upon his handsome features once again.  Rinoa saw this, not wanting to say anything about it, but the curiousity was killing her.  What was he up to?

Without saying a word, Squall made his way towards the lift followed by a silent Rinoa.  She wondered why he was so quiet; it made her feel horrible and meaningless.  No last words or confessions to her?  Her life would end soon and he didn't have anything to say _at all_?

The two made their way down the seemingly endless halls, coming to a stop once they arrived at the door of the exit.  Squall turned around and looked at Rinoa as his gloved hand was placed over the button to open the door.  She looked up and into his eyes once again, almost holding in her breath to stop herself from getting emotional.

(I don't know what to do…)

Squall applied pressure upon the button, letting the door slide open behind him.  He hated the sound of it… if only he could think of something quicker…

(I've come this far because I've… fallen for you.)

Rinoa watched the door slide open behind him, soon bringing her eyes to his face once again.  Curiosity was killing her still, watching the thoughtful expression take over his expression.

(Now… am I just supposed to let you go…?)

"Squall…."

The commander turned around, making his way outside and down the long stairs that lead to the ground.  Rinoa followed closely behind, looking all around at the people that were there… all for her.  Squall growled under his breath as he observed them as well, balling his fists tightly.  Whatever his decision was, it had to be quick.

Upon reaching the bottom, Squall felt helpless.  A number of Esthar soldiers were there, so if he tried something he would not have anything to defend himself with, let alone Rinoa.  If only he had his gunblade… things would be much easier.

Rinoa stood behind Squall closely, almost peeking over his left shoulder like a little girl.  She was scared beyond belief.  One of the sorceress researchers stepped forward, with the attire of the robe of the Estharian uniform, and spoke up… unafraid of the threatening look that Squall was giving.

"Sorceress Rinoa.  Hyne's descendant."

The girl in light blue took a deep breath and stepped out from behind Squall.  He watched her as his eyes widened slightly; she really was going with this…

"Come with us.  We must seal your power for the sake of the world."

Breathing in deep, Rinoa suppressed a frown from her features and lowered her head to look at the ground.  "…….All right."

"No."

The sorceress researcher turned to face Squall, a little surprised at his objection.  Rinoa raised her head, a look of slight shock forming on her face as she turned around to face Squall, blinking softly.

"Excuse me, sir..?"

Having that determined, angry look upon his face once again, Squall took a step closer to Rinoa, taking her wrist in his left hand and pulling her closer to him.  Rinoas soft brown eyes widened in shock as she stared at him, releasing a gasp when he pulled her closer.  "Must I repeat myself?  You're not taking Rinoa."

Esthar soldiers prepared their guns after Squall's _oath_.  Rinoa was speechless; so that's what he was up to.  "The real sorceress you want is Ultimecia.  She was using both of us for her destructive plans.  Go after her."

The commander wrapped his left arm around his sorceress, holding his gloved hand firmly upon her lower back to keep her against him.  Rinoa abided by his action, leaning against him with her arms bent, her left hand resting upon his chest right above the famous Griever.  Over her left shoulder she stared at the sorceress researcher as her head rested upon him, with a mellow expression crossing her slightly nervous features.

Just as the Esthar soldiers began to make their way closer, Squall growled under his breath.  How could he protect her with no weapon?---

"Yo Squall!!!!"

Hearing his name, the commander quickly turned his head to where it was heard, making the Estharians look around frantically.  That voice… it was…

"CATCH!"  Just then an instrument was thrown into the air and a gunshot pierced it with an eerie ring, making it fly towards Squall and Rinoa, landing right into the ground in front of them.  Almost smirking, Squall leaned forward a bit, grabbing the handle with his free hand, and quickly pulled the instrument out of the ground, pointing it out towards his Esthar enemies.  His trusty gunblade.

Zell, Selphie, Quistis and Irvine ran towards the couple from the side, weapons at hand and ready to fight.  Irvine stood beside Squall and Rinoa, aiming his shotgun towards the Estharians to keep them from getting closer.  Selphie ran up the stairs of the famous ship with Zell, making her way quickly towards the control room to see if she could get it started as soon as possible.  Quistis stopped in the middle of the stairs, turning around towards Squall and Irvine as Rinoa ran up the stairs as well, making her way back onto the ship.

"All right, let's go guys!"  The Ragnarok began to start up, making a loud noise from within.  Squall withdrew his guard and began to run up the stairs with Irvine following.  As Quistis, Irvine and Squall ran inside, the stairs slid back up to prevent the Estharians from following.  The legendary ship lifted off the ground.

As Squall stood in front of the door that closed behind him, Rinoa stood there staring at him with happy, tear-filled eyes.  She smiled helplessly and ran towards him with open arms.  Squall, with eyes full of compassion, opened his arms as well, allowing her to fall in as he dropped his gunblade to the floor, hugging her close to his body—his heart.  The two lovers closed their eyes, enjoying the warm embrace with each other.

Irvine and Quistis witnessed this event, staying silent but smiling to each other.  If Squall's personal wall were visible, they would have seen it shatter before their eyes when Rinoa fell into his arms.  But they knew it did, not needing any vision to see it happen.

Removing his hat and placing it on his chest, Irvine nudged Quistis and began to walk to the control room to leave the two alone.  She soon followed, leaving them to be.

With his heart beating fast, Squall slid his gloved hand over Rinoas hair, softly kissing her forehead with closed eyes.  This was his oath to her: to never have her leave his sight.

(I won't… let it happen again…)

_______

**G**od!  Look how I changed the game!  I can't believe myself, what have I done?  x_x  Please review, I wanna know what you guys think.  ::slaps herself::  And my italics for this chapter doesn't seem to be working…


	11. Author's Notes

Author's notes:

Hello everyone, Jenn here. I wanted to write this to you all to let you know that I'm going to conclude the story the way it is. During my time writing this story, I was in a great relationship with someone I loved, but it has fallen apart during the time when I wanted to write a last chapter. I guess you could say that I based the relationship I was in towards Squall's and Rinoa's… and I had a really fun time with it. It's amazing how you can compare and totally lose motivation because of the events in your life to a simple story.

Now here's where I explain some symbols and little things in the story I wanted people to notice.

I basically followed the game without trying to make any real differences… Personally I love the way it is already, but I always wondered to myself what would happen if Squall were to go into a coma as well, and how Rinoa would act if the roles reversed. Reading through the first chapter right now, I just notice I explain how things happened, and how worried Rinoa becomes.

The second chapter… wow, here is where I can't believe that I wrote this. My hidden writing skills attacked me during this chapter. I never wrote anything like this. During my adventure playing the game, I always wondered why they never showed you what happened when Ellone chose to go with Esthar. They did show you, of course, but there were no words other than the White SeeD commander's, explaining the story. I wanted to get deeper into that story, and show what was said when it was all happening.

When Ellone was finally with Esthar, I remembered that around this time in the game, Squall was by Rinoa's side when she was in a coma. Remember the part where Squall flips out and talks to her, even thinks "This is like talking to a wall." Well if you remember, he winds up getting knocked out by Ellone sending him to the past after that. And this is where, in the story, I implied her trying to do so at that time in the game. Since he was in a coma, it didn't work because of how deeply far away he was from reality. Ellone wanted him to change the past, in hope that he would get to know the father he never knew and to actually… change the past. Without him, she wouldn't 'connect' the gang….. or so I thought.

Now, the beginning of chapter three threw a few people off. All I did was put together a few quotes that Squall heard during the game before he fell into a coma (in my story) and… tada. It's supposed to be what was going through his mind as he was in a coma.

The reunion of Laguna and Ellone… everyone's favorite. They never showed them getting back together in the game, and how I wrote it was the way that I imagined it. I absolutely love it.

Chapter four, I had so much fun with making Laguna babble. The trio is awesome and I love the way Kiros gets annoyed with Ward about all the babbling, even with Ward losing his voice. I thought it was hysterical how Kiros 'spoke' for Ward. No one really knows what he wants, do they? I had fun with them teasing Laguna. And here is where I thought how they convinced Ellone to go in space. I loved making it all fit together; the game into my story.

The questions about Headmaster Cid doing his duty as a knight… it always made me wonder if he ever really did. Of course Edea accepted Ultimecia's powers at the end, but Cid had no huge role to say in the matter. Don't you think he could've been there, at least, to see what was happening to his wife? Be a knight to his sorceress? Where was he? Oh weelll..

The words in italic mean that Squall can hear Irvine and Rinoa talking waaaay in the back of his mind. If he were to wake up right then, he wouldn't know he heard them.

Since Squall was out of the picture, I thought Quistis would make the best leader out of the five. Even if Garden says she's lacking leadership qualities, we all know she's damn well good at it. She shines in these chapters.

Rinoa taking her walk through Garden is what I saw as her being a feather in a garden filled with flower petals. She was different from the students because she was not one of them. In the opening of the game where she takes a petal in her hand, hides it in her fist then lets go for it to be a feather is what I saw of Squall. She took Squall, a petal from Garden, and changed him. Well, that's what I think.

Since Rinoa was awake at this part of the game, it was inevitable for her to meet up with her Forest Owl buddies. I had to add that in there.

In Chapter five, I wrote, in my point of view, of how Rinoa would help out with Squall. She certainly couldn't carry Squall on her back and walk him all the way through FH by herself… she's a people person, dependant. She went with all of her friends.

I showed her reactions to Esthar, and how Doctor Odine observed her as if he knew something. He had a feeling, all right…

All right, at the beginning of Chapter six, Quistis did seem a little TOO NICE, didn't she? Even though she misunderstood her love for Squall doesn't mean she stopped loving him. Rinoa just popped out of nowhere and made her give up. But even so, she wouldn't take it to heart and let it be noticed. That's how I tried to portray her here.

The next scene mimics the game, but I wanted to show that the man in the space suit was Laguna. You can just TELL it's him by his hand movements and what he says.

Moving on from here just shows the same process that would happen in the game. Squall was placed in the med lab, in the control room; we see the reaction from Rinoa we never saw in the game about the monsters on the moon. Then we see Quistis going to go talk to Ellone after telling Rinoa to stand by Squall's side.

I'm going to update the rest when I have the time. For those of you who were waiting for another chapter, thank you so much. This is the least I can do for now.

-Jenn


End file.
